While working on Bong Joon Ho's Parasite follow-up Mickey 17, actor Mark Ruffalo came to a dark but hopeful conclusion. Dictators inflict horrible damage on the people but never win in the end.

Ruffalo was drawn to the role of corrupt politician Kenneth Marshall, "the most ridiculous, insane villain,"despite it being against type. He found the challenge exciting and had "a lot of fun" portraying him. He also loved that the movie "really honors the people...this kind of ground up power."

Ruffalo described his character as "an amalgamation of every petty dictator that we've seen over the last, you know, century, all rolled into one. Add a little bit of, you know, Christian nationalist in there or religious zealot in there, and you have Kenneth Marshall."

When researching and considering historical dictators to prepare for this role, Ruffalo had an ah-ha moment. [Dictators] all end the same way. I mean, it might be brutal on the way to getting there, but all of these guys end the same way. It's not sustainable," Ruffalo mused to CNN at the film's premiere in London. "And I think that's kind of one of the nicer things about the movie, is that, in the end, the people always win."

Ruffalo did acknowledge the damage dictators can do on their way down. His hope does not come without a cost. "It just takes some time and some suffering -- horrible, you know, terrible things. But we gotta remember that we always win and they always lose," he added.

Great art is often the product of turbulent times and Mickey 17 appears to fit this bill despite being filmed in 2022. Ruffalo believes its subject matter is "kind of prophetic" given the current political climate and second Trump presidency. This genre defying film is part dark comedy, part science fiction, as well as a cautionary tale.

Based on Edward Ashton's book of the same name, it tells the story of a desperate man who wants off the planet Earth. Mickey joins the expendable program and takes on dangerous assignments on the human colony Niflheim. When he dies, it's no big deal because a new body is just regenerated for him. All is going according to plan until a new body is created after it was believed Mickey 17 was dead. Now Mickey 17 and 18, both played by actor Robert Pattinson, are forced to deal with the corrupt government who views them as dispensable.

Ruffalo wasn't the only actor who saw the correlation to the present political landscape. Toni Collette plays Ylfa, Marshall's devious wife. She believes the story is even more relevant now than when they filmed it. "Things have escalated, so I think it's probably even more apt now, at the time of release," she mused.

Bong wasn't as adamant about the modern parallels. "It is hard to not say or say that I was conscious or not conscious of that while making this film," he explained "This is just sci-fi movie. Enjoy the fantasy," he said with a laugh. That's the beauty of art. It can mean different things to different people. Perhaps for Americans like Ruffalo, there's a glimmer of hope to be found here when this film hits theaters on March 7.