The tattoo artist who famously inked the original Avengers actors (aside from Mark Ruffalo) has spoken out to explain the symbol after it was accused of being Satanic. No, really. Back in 2018, five of the six original Avengers actors – Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Renner – famously celebrated their time on the MCU together by getting a matching tattoo. Earth’s mightiest heroes went under the needle on the evening of the premiere for Avengers: Infinity War, and while it’s a cute way to cement their bond, the biggest talking point since then has been about the fact that Hulk star Mark Ruffalo didn’t participate. Downey Jr. spoke about this in a 2023 interview with Wired, where he explained, “Scarlet got it first, then Chris Evans got it, then I got it, then Jeremy Renner got it, then Chris Hemsworth got it, even though he was a little tentative about it and seemed to overreact to the pain. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Josh Lord (@joshualord) “And then Mark Ruffalo said, ‘I’m not getting that tattoo. I don’t wanna be part of your Hollywood Inside game,’ to which I applauded him. F**k you, Mark.” Clearly, that last bit was tongue in cheek – Ruffalo himself has admitted he’s afraid of needles (which is hilarious given he’s the Hulk). But this – coupled with the fact that the symbol features the number six – has apparently given conspiracy theorists something to work with. There’s long been a corner of the internet convinced Hollywood is secretly involved in the Illuminati and the occult, and the tattoo gets caught up in that. In a recent post highlighting that Ruffalo didn’t get the tat, one person wrote, “Well he didn’t sell his soul… good job Mark.” Another said, “It could be because it looks like a pentagram with a 6.” A third added, “I wouldn’t get that either, that’s some straight up occult sh*t.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by @childhoodpost As said, this is just a small corner of the internet, but just in case it’s not clear enough, Josh Lord – the New York tattoo artist who carried out the work – has confirmed that the symbol is not, in fact, Satanic. He shared a video showing himself with the Marvel stars, followed by photos of the design process for each tattoo. While each one features the Avengers ‘A’ and the number six to represent the six members, the individual designs also have their characters’ initials. So, Downey Jr.’s has an ‘I’ and ‘M’ for Iron Man, Johansson has a ‘B’ and ‘W’ for Black Widow, and so on. Alongside these stills, Lord wrote, “Sooooo original Avengers tattoo explained so people stop thinking it’s Satanic.” He went on to clarify, “Not that there is anything wrong with that for my Satanist followers. All religions should be treated equally of course, as America intended. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Josh Lord (@joshualord) “There it is. All the initials and symbols explained. Plus some fun behind the scenes pics. Next if people want, I’ll post the Avengers doing MY honorary Avengers tattoo. Since we all know that Mark Ruffalo did not get the tattoo YET!” The tattoo artist said he still holds out “hope” that the Hulk star will come around. “He did see them the next night and seemed to like them. Please encourage him to complete the team,” he finished the post. Who knows, maybe Ruffalo will feel brave enough to face the needle after his return in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. At least, for now, we can say without doubt that the other Avengers aren’t commemorating the devil. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: Disney/Instagram/@joshualord Post navigation Next storyPrevious story
