Celebrate Mark Ruffalo’s birthday with 7 reasons you need friends like Bruce Banner and the Hulk

It’s actor Mark Ruffalo’s birthday, and we’re using it to celebrate his role as our favorite MCU superhero with seven Ph.Ds and his green counterpart.

Mark Ruffalo has portrayed a plethora of icon roles. From Matty in 13 Going on 30 to Paul in The Kids Are All Right, we’ve had endless reasons to stan Ruffalo. Apart from his acting career, Ruffalo has also blessed us with his relatable pre-glo-up photos and his continual environmental and political activism on and beyond his Twitter feed.

He’s continually giving us gifts, whether they’re in the shape of “accidental” MCU spoilers or Bruce Banner’s living green rage (even though the Hulk is actually just a softy). However, today is Mark Ruffalo’s birthday and it’s time to give him a gift, and we couldn’t think of a better present then to celebrate all the bestie goals Bruce and the Hulk have given us through the years.

Sure, Bruce Banner was born on Dec. 18th and the Hulk was born from an experiment on Feb. 25th, but Ruffalo’s portrayal of these two characters who share the same body immortalizes their supportive personalities in different ways than we’re used to from the comics.

Despite Thor calling him a bad friend in the middle in Thor: Ragnarok, the Hulk and Bruce are both exceptional friends– and we dissected some of our favorite reasons why.

1. He admires his friends’ accomplishments

Even after the Hulk lost a fight with an overgrown grape at the start of Avengers: Infinity War, Bruce still finds time to admire Tony Stark’s updated nano-tech armor. Tony is busy being his extra-self in front of the Children of Thanos and the wizards while he’s putting on the latest Iron Man suit. Meanwhile, Bruce is in the background visibly gasping and mouthing “wow.” Same, Bruce, same.

In the event of another alien invasion, Bruce innately ogles at his friends’ achievements. If that doesn’t exemplify a great friendship, don’t worry: Bruce/Hulk still have six more examples for us.

2. And he constantly hypes up his friends

Once Thor finally shows up at the battle of Wakanda in Infinity War, Bruce unveiled his Hulkbuster helmet just to show, “You guys are so screwed now!” While he obviously antagonizes the Children of Thanos and their horde of Outriders, Bruce makes time even in a fight to rightfully brag about his friends.

Not to mention, Bruce hypes up Valkyrie in Ragnarok multiple times. We can only assume Hulk’s “angry girl” nickname for Valkyrie is his way of complimenting her strength as well. It just reminds us that we need to amp up are hype-man game. After all, our friends might not be Thor, but they are living Gods in our eyes and deserve to be hyped up accordingly.

3. Two words: Hulk hugs

Bruce and Tony’s hug at the start of Infinity War, after that introduction, might have been a bit more remorseful than the rest of the MCU’s best hugs hitlist.

Still, who couldn’t use a hug from the Hulk or Bruce sometimes?

4. Who wouldn’t want his protection?

The Hulk might have fought with Thor in the arena in Sakaar, but the green giant was also battling some imposter syndrome. He thinks that Thor only likes Bruce—even though we all know he’s completely wrong because it’s impossible to hate the Hulk.

However, the Hulk and Bruce have both defended their friends and innocent civilians from various attacks. Hulk might seem to pick more physical fights than Bruce, but Banner did also throw some punches at the genocidal grape in Infinity War.

5. He tries to reunite his friend group

Bruce is aware of the imminent danger in Infinity War, but he takes a side note to address Tony and Steve’s falling out. He tries to encourage Tony to call Captain America for backup and to track down Vision.

While the rising threat doesn’t matter “who you’re talking to or not,” as Bruce puts it, he was notably disgruntled about the Avengers’ disbanding.

6. He admits when he’s wrong

Being the breathing personification of angry isn’t easy, especially when you just want people to like and accept you. The Hulk might let his temper overcome him, but he also admits his wrongdoing and apologizes for being angry, thus apologizing for being him.

We all have our less than admirable habits, but the Hulk pushes his natural inclinations to the side to Hulk-up and apologize. Now, if only we can do the same when we need to apologize to our bestie when we binge-watch a new Netflix series without them…

7. He cares about his friends

Naturally, the Hulk and Bruce both use their brawn and brain to protect the Avengers and company from aliens, giant wolves, and big monsters. Aside from fighting bad guys and saving the world, Hulk and the Bruce still care about their friends.

Though he isn’t yet convinced that Thor actually likes him when he isn’t Bruce Banner, the Hulk tries to comfort Thor when he’s trapped on Sakaar. Sure, the Hulk might have convoluted ways of trying to get Thor to talk about his feelings — gently pushing a friend’s shoulder and saying they’re sad might not work with everyone’s close friend. Regardless, the Hulk clearly cares about what’s bothering Thor, otherwise, there’d be no point in bringing up his apparent sadness.

When the Hulk transforms back into Bruce in Thor: Ragnarok, Bruce immediately asks Thor about everyone else. Granted, he still doesn’t know where he is, what’s happened in the last couple of years, or that his other half has been hijacking his body for the last two years, but Bruce still thinks about the well-being of his friends and the Sokovian citizens before his own.

The list could go on forever. Whether you stan Bruce, the Hulk, or both, Mark Ruffalo’s portrayal of the two characters have taught us a lot about friendship amid all the fighting sequences, alien invasions and mourning in the MCU (we’re obviously side-eyeing you, Infinity War).

If you celebrate Ruffalo’s birthday by rewatching his cinematic career, turning him into a meme (yet again), or by @ing him to wish him a happy bday, just remember that we should all have friends like Bruce and the Hulk, and should also aspire to be better friends like this dual character.