Huh? Marvel Wants Joaquin for Bruce Banner?

If you were Marvel, would you rather have a pissy Edward Norton or an off-the-deep-end Joaquin Phoenix as your Bruce Banner? I'm not really torn here, and I think, with Norton, Marvel knew it was getting a guy who's pretty specific about the projects he does and if he doesn't like the way it's going, he won't be quiet. I also think he was a very good Banner.

Furthermore, I think Marvel knows what it's getting with Phoenix, which is to say, Marvel has no idea what it could be getting with him. A very good actor, no question, but CHUD reports that "reliable sources" indicate an offer has been made to Joaquin to play Banner in The Avengers and that may - we caution, may - possibly open the door for a third attempt at a Hulk franchise. So who's crazier there, Phoenix or Marvel's Kevin Feige?

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Marvel Won't Use Edward Norton in 'The Avengers'

As we've strongly suspected for two years, Marvel will cut its perceived losses for The Avengers and will not be bringing back Edward Norton to play Bruce Banner. That's according to HitFix, which reports that Marvel will have a full-scale invasion of Comic Con in two weeks to officially christen The Avengers and Norton won't be there.

HitFix plays out a hypothetical situation in which Joss Whedon and the cast are introduced in San Diego, and some new guy will be announced as Banner. "[Marvel] has decided that they are going to cast 'an unknown' to play Bruce Banner and The Hulk in the film," writes the site, tipping that inside sources are ready to move on without Norton. There are two reasons I can think of why Marvel would go this route. The first is they've given Captain America and Thor to less-than-A-list talent. Of course, we have no idea if that will work, but if it does, why wouldn't it pay off for Hulk? The second reason is, naturally, that Marvel isn't in the business of revisiting mistakes when it can avoid it, and though I really liked the film and Norton in it, the 2008 Hulk didn't perform as well as the company would have hoped and there were rumors of in-fighting between Norton, the studio, and director Louis Leterrier, and on top of all that, he'd cost more.

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Marvel Boss Won't Confirm Norton in 'Avengers'

I've maintained since The Incredible Hulk failed to do much more business than the Ang Lee version five years earlier that we probably wouldn't see Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in The Avengers. Why dedicate that much time to something you've proven twice people don't want to see?

MovieWeb asked Kevin Fiege that very question, and pay attention to his answers, which I'll compare to something a lot less concrete in a moment. "We certainly plan on it," Fiege said of having the Hulk in Avengers. "He was there in The Avengers #1 and in The Ultimates #1 so certainly the Hulk is a key part of these films leading up to The Avengers. So I certainly think Hulk will be a player on that team." What about Norton as Banner?

"A lot of it depends on the story, a lot of it depends on the schedule and a lot of it depends on the lofty ideas that we have. You also have to work with the real ties of people's schedules as to when they are available and stuff like that. So we reserve the right to say Hulk will be in it for sure, we'll see about Banner."

Translation: No.

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Louis Leterrier On the 'Avengers' Director Shortlist

I can think of one reason that Louis Leterrier shouldn't direct The Avengers when the time comes: His Incredible Hulk just didn't make a big impact. It was better than Ang Lee's version, and it got overshadowed by Iron Man and Dark Knight even though it's a good film, but if Marvel is pointing all of its efforts (at least with Paramount) to one big greatest hits movie, then Hulk's box office might slim Leterrier's chances.

However, the Clash of the Titans director might have a big hit on his hands in a couple weeks, so that should help, and he tells Ain't It Cool News, "I am on the shortlist. I don't know who the other guys are, but I have a great relationship with [Marvel], and I've been very vocal to them and everyone else that I am the one to direct it."

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Edward Norton: No 'Hulk' Sequel

I didn't think it stood much of a chance anyway, but now Edward Norton says there's little hope for a sequel to The Incredible Hulk. Obviously, the Norton film was better than the 2003 vintage, but neither one of them made enough money to be strong contenders for follow-ups.

Cinematical talked to Norton at SXSW, and he admitted that the odds are slim for more chapters of the big green guy, although he believes it has less to do with what Hulk did or didn't do and more to do with Marvel's ever-expanding movie universe. "I don't think so," Norton said about a sequel. "I think it has got more to do with what Marvel is doing. I get the sense they have this grand vision of unspooling a lot of their characters and then starting to put them together. I think they can only do so many at a time.

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