When Mark Ruffalo played Bruce Banner , was it well - received by critics and audiences ?
Justin Chang of " Variety " wrote , " Like a superior , state - of - the - art model built from reconstituted parts , Joss Whedon 's buoyant , witty and robustly entertaining superhero smash - up is escapism of a sophisticated order , boasting a tonal assurance and rich reserves of humor that offset the potentially lumbering and unavoidably formulaic aspects of this 143 - minute team - origin story . "