When Mark Ruffalo played Bruce Banner , was it well - received by critics and audiences ?
) " Referring to Downey , Joe Morgenstein of " The Wall Street Journal " — despite complimenting Downey 's performance — favored his work in " Iron Man " over his acting in " The Avengers " : " His Iron Man is certainly a team player , but Mr. Downey comes to the party with two insuperable superpowers : a character of established sophistication — the industrialist / inventor Tony Stark , a sharp - tongued man of the world — and his own quicksilver presence that finds its finest expression in self-irony . "