Mark Ruffalo is relishing a new trend in his career where he suddenly gets to play the bad guy.
After playing a ne'er-do-well in the award-winning Poor Things opposite Emma Stone, Ruffalo is playing a particularly nasty piece of work in the highly anticipated sci-fi thriller, Mickey 17.
Ruffalo told Deadline that he's enjoying these types of roles at this stage in his career.
"I really didn’t think I could do it. Being a bad person on screen, breaking whatever expectations," said Ruffalo.
"It’s such a flashy part and I had never really dug my teeth into anything like that — and man was it freeing and liberating and just joyfully wicked!"
Moving from Poor Things to Mickey 17, Ruffalo said his character is, "another f*cking psychopath."
"This guy’s like a nasty dictator, fascist, narcissist; we know the type! He’s as bad as any of these a**holes running around today."
Aside from this tease, not much is known about the film.
Thanks to a teaser, we know Robert Pattinson is playing the titular character, an expendable whose memories and consciousness can be downloaded into a new body when situations get deadly.
Steven Yeun co-stars in the film and while he declined to share any specifics for who he'll play, he shared his excitement about working with Bong Joon-ho again after the pair previously collaborated on Okja.
"I'll just say that director Bong continues to be an even more incredible artist every time you get to work with him. So I'm thrilled for the world to be able to see it," said Yeun.
The only problem is that the film was recently removed from WB's release slate. Originally scheduled to be released on March 29, the film is now without a release date.
Filming on Mickey 17 kicked off on August 2022 and wrapped on December 2022.
In addition to Ruffalo, Pattinson and Yeun, the film also stars Naomi Ackie and Toni Collette.
MICKEY 7 (novel) Official Synopsis:
Dying isn’t any fun…but at least it’s a living.
Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous―even suicidal―the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.
On a fairly routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, Mickey7’s fate has been sealed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they will likely be thrown into the recycler for protein.
Mickey7 must keep his double a secret from the rest of the colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.
That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.