Mark Ruffalo Slams the Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger: "Bad Deal for This Country"

Mark Ruffalo has been one of the fiercest critics of the $111 billion Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, and after the deal became official Wednesday, the MCU's Hulk came out swinging.

"This merger will stifle creativity, weaken free speech and cost people their jobs, it is a bad deal for this country and should never have been approved," the two-time Emmy winner said after a U.S. District Judge signed off on the antitrust settlement between the David Ellison-run company and a dozen state attorneys general.

"This is an incredibly disappointing outcome for the hundreds of thousands of us who stood up to block it, but it's also not the end," he added. Retweeting Deadline's story on the approval, Ruffalo wrote: "This grassroots movement isn't going to fade away and neither is our resolve. This was never about just one merger: this was about fighting back against corrupt oligarch billionaires trampling the interests of everyday people to line their own pockets."

Ruffalo, a close ally of Sen. Cory Booker in the fight against the merger, had publicly urged California AG Rob Bonta not to cave on the antitrust front. The merger closed under pricey pressure: Paramount faced a $7 million-a-day ticking fee to WBD shareholders if the deal was fatally delayed.

Key facts:
- $111 billion merger approved Wednesday via federal antitrust settlement
- Ruffalo: "a bad deal for this country and should never have been approved"
- Paramount faced a $7 million-per-day ticking fee to WBD shareholders during delays

Why this matters: Actors rarely go this hard at a done deal, and that's exactly why it lands. Ruffalo is using his platform the way the old studio-era stars never could: as a permanent opposition voice with a direct line to millions. Whether the merger delivers or destroys, every creative in town now has a public scorecard, and the next time a mega-deal comes around, the resistance will already be organized.