There will be the odd person here and there that may disagree, but generally speaking most people seemed to think that this summer’s “The Incredible Hulk” was a step up from the previous incarnation given to us by Ang Lee. One of the reasons was obviously the different take on Doctor Bruce Banner that Edward Norton brought to the project (not to mention re-writting the script).
However, if you’re hoping that Norton will return as The Hulk for the upcoming Avengers movie, or that perhaps he’ll turn green again for a possible Hulk sequel… don’t hold your breath. Things aren’t looking too good on that front for several reasons:
1) The movie, while liked by audiences, was not nearly the box office success the studio was hoping for, especially coming off the massive success of Iron Man
2) There was a well publicized spat between Norton and studio execs over the project leading up to the release of the film which Norton did little to no promotion of.
3) Despite re-writting the script, Norton was stripped of the writing credit
4) Norton himself now doesn’t sound all that optimistic about it. The good folks over at ComingSoon give us this:
The Incredible Hulk star Edward Norton tells MTV he is uncertain about the green fella’s future. “The minds of Marvel are sometimes opaque,” Norton said. “I won’t say [they’re] obtuse, but I don’t have any idea what they want to do.” “They’ve got this notion of collecting the Marvel characters,” Norton said. “Who knows where they’ll go?”
I’m not going to say “case closed” at this point, but things certainly don’t look promising for Norton to return. The question now is, who do they get to fill his shoes for The Avengers if Norton doesn’t come back? This may sound a bit far fetched… but how about getting Eric Bana to return? Even people who didn’t like the first Hulk movie still generally seems to agree he was pretty good in it. Just a thought.
If Norton refuses the Avenger Project then there is LOGICALLY only one man worth considering and thats BANA!
NO QUESTIONS, BANA OR……. NOBODY!
ps. As good as Norton was, they didn’t replace Reaves,Mcguire,Bale or Jackman, so WHY did they replace Bana….stupid move as was the release date for the Norton version…during school term time…..that was clever…..TWATS at marvel GO AND LEARN ABOUT FILM MAKING….YOU AMATURISH FOOLS!
NORTON, BANA OR NO ONE!
First of all the Hulk is the only Hero in the Avengers that is truly powerful. If any of you monkeys read the comics or even looked at wikipedia b/c you have no true knowledge you would know that the Avengers always need the Hulk b/c they never quite measure up to the villian and they need his power.
For the jerk who said I hope they kill the Hulk off.
You cant kill the Hulk
For the losers who said Bana was better than Norton,
You are crazy. Norton is the perfect person to play Dr. Banner
Norton will be back b/c movies like this makes actors immortal.
Ironman will always be Downey Jr.
Wolverine will always be Jackman
Immortal
Hi, it’s me again my last transmission I mist a few words I do apologize to all those how had read it . But anyway I think Edward Norton is one of the finest actors in the 21first century it would a gate loss if Edward Norton did not play in the next HULK Movie . And now if you ever read this Ed I know all to well what being discouraged feels like you seem like a man with integrity from what I have read for that I Honer you for this . If it’s true don’t let them screw you again . The directors and writers when and if they make movie about a comic book they should have a vast knowledge of detail of the certain comic book that there planning on shooting , because of hard core comic book fans would bitch and say, That’s not what happened in the comic book it all ? Because of this I was unhappy of the directors and writers when they brought out the New HULK Movie , but don’t get wrong it was a wicked and richest movie liked it a lot . The new interpretation of the NEW ( C . G . I .)HULK I thought was pretty much dead on and it had real class . And hard core critic that I am I do not joke around when it comes to comic book movies . Knowing your shit people will be pleased if not people will boo your ass all because of your lack of knowledge .
Hi, I’m a REAL BIG TIME MARVEL COMICS FAN and (THE HULK is)!! is one of my most al time favorite MARVEL COMICS character . And I know A grate deal about this character, If there’s anything I know about the Hulk’s origins I know this….,THE HULK – Bruce Banner, DID NOT !! get infected with Gamma Radiation in a LAB ! ! ! ! In fact Dr.Bruce Banner was infected with a Gamma Radiated Explosion and it took place in the Nevada desert test grounds and I do not remember the hole story but I do remember right when the testing was insinuated for go some adrenaline junky teenager on a dart bike rood right threw the test field when the testing grounds when was in the middle an alert for count down . And suddenly Dr. Bruce Banner saw the biker then Dr.Banner ran out of the bunker Dr. Banner quickly Grabbed the teenager off his bike and ran and threw him down into the bunker and right after he thew the kid in the bunker (Dr.Betty Ross) yelled out to Dr.Banner (BRUCE !!!) and Dr.Banner replied (no time!!) and he closed and locked the bunker door quickly has possible then Bruce remembered there’s a 8 foot deep trench with a protective bast shield near the front of the bunker witch happens to be right in the middle of ground zero . And it’s 50 feet away in front his current position he ran fast as he could while he was running he was listening to the count down , he had a horrible feeling that he wasn’t going to make it , And was right at 3 feet from the trench Gamma Exploded and the radiation move over,around and thew him with a grate tidal wave fores that was overestimated and over calculated , Dr. Bruce Banner couldn’t do anything it was to late he was right in the middle of a life changing event that would seem that the blast of Gamma Radiation was rewriting his body’s DNA forever . Little bit later in Dr.Bruce Banner’s life he would come to realize his alter ego would prove to be a power that the world would ever witness and he came to be known as one the most of powerful heroes known to mankind around the world , and then they would name him… to known… as The Incredible HULK !
Nortn Rocks, Things change all the time in this industry he may be back. I was on a plane last week to Indy with this guy who is trying to have him take a look at a script called the 5th horseman. Sounds pretty sweet.
No Ed Norton-!!????- he TOTALLY MADE THAT FILM! The reason that it didn’t do as well as the totally rocking IRON MAN was that we all were gun shy from the first Hulk disaster —Bana is HORRIBLE and he would ruin any future reference to Hulk– I’d rather bring back the great Bill Bixby from the dead — prop him in the corner like weekend at Bernie’s and he’d still give a better performance then Bana–it’s Norton or no one– Downey deserves an equally great actor to work with!
scusate , eric bana meglio di edward norton?! voi americani siete strani, avete a portata di mani un attore straordinario e vi preoccupate che sia un “dolore nel culo”. meno male che a hollywood c’è qualcuno che ha intelligenza abbastanza per combattere per le sue idee! comunque norton è uno dei migliori attori della sua generazione!!!!!
Hi webmaster!
Shane’s got the right idea but I don’t think money is an issue as John thinks.
It’s the Marvel dick-lords that have no clue which direction to project their wand.
The big question is: did Norton sign a contract for sequels and/or the crossover Avengers film? Even if there was friction between Norton and Marvel, contracts are just that, money talks, bullshit walks all that stuff. Y’know?
I would not mind bringing Eric Bana back, but wouldn’t that just screw up people’s minds? Even if *if* it could be tinkered with and the reboot is now just a retcon…what of Jennifer Connelly vs, Liv Tyler or Sam Elliot vs Will Hurt?! Ouch!
The best bet is to either cast a new Banner if (IF) Norton is sweet talked into returning.
Other than that, leave Hulk out of Avengers, and have Doc Sampson in his stead (Or She-Hulk, for that matter?)
Consider this:
the Stark cameo talking to Ross may not have to do with Hulk anymore, but rather, the Super-soldier serum; let’s say Cap was found in ice and is thawing out. Or they’ll use it on Black Widow.
Or, instead of Hulk, there’s Man-Thing. (if the rights were given back to Marvel?)
ANY hulk movie from now on will probably wont happen because of the cost..i dont know about grey hulk (i just pretend that never happened)
i think theyve done whats NEEDED to be done with hulk..they did one with abe and and they showed the tony stark cameo..thats what they need to foloow to an avengers movie and they made 2 movies…they dont need to make another one unless theyre 100 PERCENT SURE that its going to make money….and grey hulk probably wont (if you read the story of WHY he was changed from grey to green hulk you will laugh ur ass off and forever loose respect for stan lee)
now- theres only one way the next hulk movie will atract lost of people…bring in multiple bad guys..NO ORIGINS..just bring in these guys that idk y havent been shown in the movies..
have armagedon come in as the MAIN VILLAIN and titanus as his sidekick…and cobalt man as a bounty hunter guy that tries to take down the hulk. those are the only good villains left not used..so use them all 3 in the next one if there IS a next one and itll get crazy money…
Hey Shane,
It’s a nice idea… but that movie would cost $400 million to make. Ain’t gonna happen.
They’ve done the Bruce Banner story, why not move forward with Hulk as an entirely CG character. If they have to have Banner, just have a few short scenes with a relatively unknown actor who looks close enough to Norton.
But do some stories like Grey Hulk, World War Hulk… don’t even bother with the Banner side of things. Especially since that tends to be the boring part of the stories anyway. Include him in Avengers, and just have Hulk show up. No need to waste time in a packed film like Avengers should be with Banner storylines anyway. Have him show up ready for action.
I will probably give up on the Hulk if they get a third actor. They just did a reboot. I liked the new Hulk so much better than the first (and the Hulk is not even a favorite superhero for me).
I am tired of the studios expecting every superhero movie to do Dark Knight returns at the box office. Some will have to be invested in over time and some will be instant hits.
I also think there is something to do with timing of movies to how well they do. At the time Spiderman was coming out the other big hit was Star Wars Attack of the Clones. This helped Spiderman to get people into the theater. That Star Wars AOTC wasn’t as good as people hoped helped to fuel their comparisons between the two.
Ironman came out in a lull and pretty much had free rain. Word of mouth hit and it took off.
Sometimes timing works against movies and there is no momentum.
Either way, if they keep changing the formula to get those magic Dark Knight numbers they are going to loose the audience and most definitely their fans.
p.s. that’s the bottom line
you know, it sucks that they didn’t give him writing credit BUUUUT you know he had to have known they weren’t going to give it to him when they made “the deal” because he would have had to hand them the script and say let’s do this and blah blah blah. He KNEW. It was a negotiation. He got paid. That’s the bottom line here in Hollywood. I don’t care how much a guy loves his job, that money that you get isn’t the cherry on top, it’s the fuckin cake.
And he doesn’t know whether he’ll return because he doesn’t know. It’s as simple as that. and just because the movie didn’t do as well as the previous one doesn’t mean they won’t want to have him return.
Let’s face it: NORTON and DOWNY JR and whoever else…..? That’s gonna sell some fuckin tickets. The Avengers is gonna be HUGE.
I never understood why they had to get rid of the previous cast anyway. It was a stupid move. Bana was a good Hulk and they should have at least kept him and started the story from where they left off with a different director.
If they make another sequel/reboot/whatever we’re going to have all of these different Hulks – no story continuity and plots and effects that may or may not work. What a shame! I thought both Hulk movies were good. Perhaps studio execs’ financial expectations for a Hulk movie are unrealistic and out of touch.
well…its kinda been out there for a while that he didnt want to be the hulk anymore…and this was BEFORE the hulk sequel news that made people think about WWH and planet hulk…
so its been a while now that people have kinda had the feeling he wasnt going to be in any sequels or the avengers…but theres still (slim) hope for more hulk….and obviously someone will replace him in the upcoming avengers movie
I thought Norton got his name taken off the writing credit at his own request.
didnt marvel say they wouldnt do it if the same actors didnt come back?
well, it would be a shame if norton didnt return, but it would be a bigger shame if there was no avengers movie at all.
I think Hulk is done as far as stand alone movies go. Although I have NO doubt he will be in The Avengers. He will probably get killed off too.
I liked Bana better than Norton anyway. I would rather have a new unknown person play the Hulk with out all this star power baggage. Use the saved money on better effects.
Ryan… that would be a pretty good way to solve the problem.
They should get Eric Bana back if it’s an issue with Norton.
However, maybe when they include the Hulk in the Avengers, they don’t NEED an actor. they could just include him as the Hulk, in his grand CG form.
Problem solved, right?
“I’m not going to say “case closed” at this point”
Allow me John; case closed. He’s not coming back………..unless he really needs the money, and even then, he has such a reputation for being a pain in the arse that they might not even want him.
Why don’t they just scrap the character altogether. They obviously haven’t a clue what to do with it.
The more I think about The Incredible Hulk movie, the more crap it seems
Eric Bana if anyone. Either that or some small, skinny shoe-string nobody actor that no one has heard of that could pull off a very Ed Norton type of performance. I’d be inclined to vote for the latter…
However, why then release the Movie (“The Incredible Hulk“) with a scene of Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in it? It doesn’t add up. Just doesn’t. I say, scrap the Idea of the HULK being a member of the Avengers in the Avengers movie altogether. It’s not like there aren’t a ton of other A-List Characters that wouldn’t be able to fit the Heavy Hitter role in the film anyway. Plus, Hulk has always been more of a liability to the Avengers than a bonus.
As has been stated elsewhere, at best, Norton didn’t have a great time in the editing room with Marvel, and at worst, they were at each other’s throats. Couple that with the fact the movie didn’t do Iron Man business, and it looks grim for his return.
You could always answer that money fixes everything, but Norton doesn’t strike me as the type who will do a project like Avengers, in which he’d have a minor role, simply for money, particularly if it means him working with folks he doesn’t see eye to eye with.
Could be when the time comes Jon Favreau, who’s been rumored to be slotted in to direct Avengers, can smooth over some feelings, but my guess is if we do see Hulk in Avengers, we won’t be seeing Norton.