Mark Ruffalo and Paul Rudd were spotted together once again at the SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s Patron of the Artist Awards yesterday. Ruffalo shared a photo and video of the two Avengers stars reuniting on the black carpet. Rudd portrays Scott Lang/Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe , while Ruffalo plays the Bruce Banner/The Hulk.
Ruffalo was honored with the Artists Inspiration Award for his philanthropic efforts in Hollywood, per the official SAG-AFTRA website.
Also pictured in the photo and video footage of the two actors is Ruffalo’s wife, Sunrise Coigney. Apart from the photo of Rudd, Ruffalo, and Coigney, the actor also shared a short video of the two men excitedly greeting each other and hugging.
Rudd appears to pay homage to a viral meme shared between the two actors that originated in 2014. In the original meme-worthy moment, Ruffalo was spotted making an awestruck face and whispering “Is that Paul Rudd?” as he walked behind the actor giving an interview at the San Diego Comic-Con.
Rudd then recreated the meme in 2018. He appeared behind Ruffalo while the Hulk actor was giving an interview at an Avengers: Infinity War premiere. He could be seen mouthing, “It’s Mark Ruffalo,” to the camera. Super News Live shared a video showing both versions of the meme on their Instagram page.
In Ruffalo’s latest Instagram photo of the two actors together, Rudd is again shown looking excited at being in Ruffalo’s presence. Ruffalo’s caption is also an apt callback, complete with the phrase, “It’s Paul Rudd!” Savvy fans spotted the meme connection in the comments section of the actor’s post.
“Paul’s like I get to see my fellow avenger friend again,” one user exclaimed with a smiley face.
“Please dont stop being amazed by paul Rudd,” begged another fan.
Ruffalo also used the hashtag “LookAtUs,” which is a reference to another, more recent meme involving Rudd. Recently, the Ant-Man actor was a guest on popular YouTube series, “Hot Ones.” A snippet of the interview features Rudd teasingly saying, “look at us,” while he and host Sean Evans experiment with hot sauces. The clip has since gone viral across multiple social media platforms.
At the Patron of the Artists Awards, Leonardo DiCaprio presented the Artists Inspiration Award to Ruffalo. The Inquisitr recently reported that Rudd is actually the one who encouraged DiCaprio to accept his now-iconic role in Titanic .
According to Variety , Ruffalo gave an emotional and impassioned speech upon acceptance of the award. He called for action from his friends and fans.
“It will take a spiritual revolution in our hearts — one that I honestly wonder if we’re up to. But I remain hopeful that with enough suffering, we will be heartened to do what needs to be done,” he implored.