'Avengers' Hulk Photo Shows Mark Ruffalo's Likeness

Want a close look at the way Mark Ruffalo inspired the design of the Hulk in "The Avengers"? Well, here it is!

SuperHeroHype has a great screen grab from the recent "Avengers" Super Bowl TV spot that offers our best look yet at the green monster. While he's not Hulking out as much as he is in this photo, it does show that the Hulk really does look a lot like Ruffalo. I'm not sure if the "Brother's Bloom" star should consider that a compliment or not.

Having the Hulk bear a resemblance to the man playing Bruce Banner was always something that was important to Marvel. It's clear from the concept art that was shown at Comic-Con last year that a lot of effort went in to making the Hulk look as much like Ruffalo as possible, and it's exciting that it actually panned out.

Last year, Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige talked about the importance of maintaining Ruffalo's likeness. Apparently in the past Marvel was hesitant to make the Avenger look like any one actor because "Hulk was Hulk," and that stood on its own. But that has changed this time around.

"The most important thing is that face. As you can already see in that concept painting, it is -- more than any Hulk that's ever been done in live action -- a Hulk that let's you see the actor in there. You will be able to see Ruffalo in there," Feige said. "It's just a concept painting, but in that you can see the [influence of Marvel Comics pioneer and original Hulk artist Jack] Kirby, as people have already pointed out, but also, and equally important in this case, Ruffalo's eyes and his cheek structure. It is him."

It's doubtful that fans will be shown much more footage of the Hulk, because my guess is that Marvel wants to keep him fresh until "The Avengers" hits theaters on May 4. But for now, this clear screen grab of the Hulk is getting me pretty excited for what the ensemble Marvel superhero movie has in store for us.

What do you think of the screen grab of the Hulk? Are you glad you can see Ruffalo in his face? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!