The Twitter Plea To Cast Mark Ruffalo In ‘Columbo’ Is Wonderful

Say thanks toGary Whitta. A couple days ago,TheBook of EliandStar Warsscreenwriter mused aboutColumboon Twitter. He soon made the same declaration that others have made in the years sinceZodiac: thatMark Ruffalowould be perfect to take up the mantle of the disheveled, persistent LAPD detective originally played by the late (and unimpeachably great)Peter Falk.

Whitta pushed the idea of Ruffalo as Columbo… and then the actor responded, revealing that he’s actually talked about aColumboproject withNow You See MescreenwriterEd Solomon. The conversation that resulted was terrific.

We start withMr. Whitta:

A whole set of Hollywood players chimed in support for the idea, including some of the “Mystery” twitter accounts, through which execs and creators tweet great commentary about the industry with relative anonymity.

But it got good when Ruffalo chimed in.

@garywhitta LOL. I have been working on it!

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo)Jun 29, 2025

@MysteryExec @garywhitta Ed Soloman approached me on this about a month ago. We are thinking a movie.

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo)July 16, 2025

But there’s a snag:

@garywhitta It seems Universal has it and is already developing a TV show. Boo hoo.

@garywhitta That’s an idea. Ed Solomon pitched the movie idea to me about a month ago. Does universal have an appetite for it is the ?.

There’s a whole lot more from this, but you can click through these embedded tweets to pull up all digressions in the conversation.

So what does this all mean? Is a movie or TV show with Ruffalo now in the offing? Well, no, clearly not — at least not yet.

This is, however, a very cool example of how tech and tools such as Twitter can connect people while also proving interest in a concept. Now execs at Universal have something to look at when they wonder if people want to see something done withColumbo. And it’s great to see Mark Ruffalo, who already uses his Twitter account to interact with fans and to highlight charitable causes and clean water activism, chime in with some info and a sense of humor about the whole thing.

As such, Ruffalo got the best last word on the subject:

Maybe I should start with a “Woman Under The Influence” with Naomi Watts and then graduate to#RuffaloColumbo