WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Adam Project, now available on Netflix.
Avengers: Infinity War delivered one of cinema's most heartbreaking moments, shocking many fans when Thanos snapped half the galaxy away in the finale. Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner/Hulk, in particular, suffered through Thanos' Snap, horrified by the sight of Vision's lifeless body and the ashes of his allies all over the Wakandan ground. It changed Banner over time, really making him understand the value of life and how quickly it can be taken away. Unfortunately, Netflix's The Adam Project just had Ruffalo relive this tragic ordeal, with a darker twist for his own mental state.
Despite its marketing promising a fun tone, The Adam Project is focused on grief, with Ryan Reynolds' Adam and his younger self (Walker Scobell) having to come to terms with the death of their father, Louis, played by Ruffalo. Young Adam processed the hurt by being a problem child in school and with his mom, Ellie (Jennifer Garner), while Big Adam remained angry, thinking Louis abandoned them.
It culminated in a morose arc when the Adams jumped to 2018 to stop time travel from ever existing. They worked with Louis to erase his quantum work from the timeline so a dystopian future wouldn't occur, but that meant they'd disappear back to their fixed times. Their memories would reconcile so they wouldn't remember everything, just faint echoes, but Louis would keep his knowledge and try to work around paradoxes and butterfly effects. They had some time, though, playing catch in the backyard. Louis used this to assure his son he'd be okay, especially knowing Adam grew up to be a weapon-wielding hero. It gave them all closure, but when Louis turned his back to grab a baseball, the Adams were gone, leaving their mitts behind.
The Adam Project left Louis in a similar situation to Bruce after the Snap, although this time, he was somewhat reassured the missing would be fine. The real damage was done to him, however, because this required a great deal of hope. Plus, he didn't take information from them on how he died in the original timeline around 2020, which meant he lived on wondering what would transpire. As a scientist, he'd be more reliant on specifics and facts, not just faith and supposition, so it had to be hard on him. And so, moving on and not knowing if he'd see Adam grow up felt like Banner thinking in Infinity War that he'd never see his Avengers allies again.
Banner did change, calming down to become Professor Hulk by merging his human and Hulk forms, reconciling the angst and living a life of acceptance over death. However, fans didn't see how Louis dealt with his issues in The Adam Project. Sadly, he ended up dying mysteriously too, which felt like a much darker fate for someone who may have been praying that his family would duck the trauma of old.
It honestly would have been nice to see him coping more, especially as he spent more time with Ellie and Adam, finally understanding how precious family was and that it should have trumped work in the first place. Ultimately, this made Louis' story in The Adam Project more emotional because while his loved ones did live on, he may well have been broken inside knowing there was a high chance his death was just around the corner.
To see how Ruffalo's Louis had to deal with Banner's tragedy too, check out The Adam Project, now streaming on Netflix