Everyone knows by now that Mark Ruffalo was tapped to replace Edward Norton to play Bruce Banner in the 2012 Marvel Studios release "The Avengers," making him the third man to play the role since 2003.  What we haven't heard is Ruffalo's thoughts on stepping into a part Norton clearly didn't want to give up.  Speaking to Entertainment Weekly at Comic-Con, Ruffalo said, "I’m a friend of Ed’s, and yeah, that wasn’t a great way for all that to go down. But the way I see it is that Ed has bequeathed this part to me. I look at it as my generation’s Hamlet."

Like Norton though, Ruffalo was comic fan growing up.  He added, "I loved The Hulk and The Avengers — it’s just strange to be entering that world as an actor. I never would have imagined that before."

As for how he'll play Banner, look for another not to TV series actor Bill Bixby's take.

"He’s a guy struggling with two sides of himself — the dark and the light — and everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control," Ruffalo says. "I grew up on the Bill Bixby TV series, which I thought was a really nuanced and real human way to look at The Hulk. I like that the part has those qualities."

Ruffalo can currently be seen in the critically acclaimed indie hit "The Kids Are All Right" which just expanded nationwide this weekend.