EXCLUSIVE: Imagine the Hollywood actor whom you’d least expect to play The Incredible Hulk in The Avengers, and maybe, just maybe, you’d come up with the name of Mark Ruffalo. He’s always been an actor’s actor and is getting critical raves in Focus Features’ The Kids Are All Right which opened last weekend. But I’ve learned that he’s now in late-stage discussions between Marvel and his brand-new agency United Talent to play this key member of The Avengers ensemble. Like Edward Norton, whom he’d be replacing, Ruffalo would bring real chops to the role. But, unlike Edward Norton, he wouldn’t an on-set asshole.
Meanwhile, let me get out of the way that Thor (May 6, 2011) and Captain America (July 22, 2011) will be in 3D. They were filmed in 2D but the plan has been for the visual effects to be rendered in 3D for Captain America while Thor will undergo more of a traditional conversion. Kevin Feige is going to great lengths to ensure this isn’t just a botched rush job. OK, enough with that.
Back to Hulk. Marvel made a pittance of an offer to Edward Norton to continue in the role. But it caught the actor by surprise that the studio decided to replace him altogether with no advance warning.
Seriously? After everything that went on in 2008 when Marvel and Norton were privately and publicly feuding over the remake of The Incredible Hulk. Eventually they settled their issues after clashing over how to cut the $150+ million pic. But what was released was Marvel’s cut of the movie, not Norton’s.
Now remember that Norton was promised big involvement and access after Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel invited the actor into the core team to rewrite Zak Penn’s script. But, in the end, Marvel ignored Norton’s ideas about how to cut the film. Even the film’s director, Louis Leterrier, joined with Norton to lobby for a longer, more detailed, more character-driven film while Marvel Studios wanted a faster, leaner one.
Sure, Norton has a difficult reputation. And he never does a lot of publicity for pics. But, basically, Marvel found him to be a pill. At the same, Marvel’s Davis Maisel acted like a jerk. I always thought that the studio would recast the role. Now they have.
Love Ruffalo. Loved Bana and Norton too but Ruffalo will be a welcome replacement. Well done.
What about david Tennant? The great Scottish actor thats the best Dr Who and soon to be seen in Fright Night.
Yea but he co write the script as well so he’s a shoe in for the role.
Outside of Marvel, who claimed Norton was an on-set asshole?
Ruffalo’s the bomb! He aced Bannner/Hulk character! Loved the lingo between Stark and himself. He’s definitely the guy for the Super Hero. Definitely wanna see more of Mark Ruffalo as Banner/Hulk in more Avenger-adventure movies! Nothing can beat the cast of Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Cris Evans, Cris Hemsworth, Scarlet Jameson(she’s Hot too!), and Renner. Best, Best, Best EVER!!!!!!!!!
Ugh! Another 2D to 3D conversion that will suck! Murky? Check! Dark? Check! A way to con an extra 5 bucks? Check!
If it’s not filmed in 3D, why bother? Can anyone name a decent looking 2D to 3D conversion? Yeah, Alice in Wonderland made coin. But it looked like crap and the movie was forgettable.
Just imagined Ruffalo saying “You’re making me angry.” and it works.
It’s a strange role since the unhulk is supposed to by unhulky and mild-manner. Looking forward to the movie.
Totally agree, he could be excellent in both roles
But you’ve got to assume it will get converted to 3D in the end as well – to get that extra 100m, if conversions are still making that much by then. 3D will make it less about his performance and more about the visuals alone, a la Alice in Wonderland – which is fine for kids, but well boring for us adults.
I still wont see The Avengers if Edward Norton isn’t in it. Ill end up downloading it online so Marvel doesn’t get my money. First they replace Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle, who looked nothing like James Rhodes aka War Machine. Than they almost lose Samuel L. Jackson and Mickey Rourke for being too cheap to pay them the right amount even though Marvel has been making movies that gross over $500 million worldwide.
Than they almost lose Jon Favreau for trying to rush Iron Man 2 into development without even contacting Favreau on what their doing. On top of that, they also almost lost Jon Favreau for being too cheap again. The man wasn’t asking for a big jump in pay, only the regular increase any director gets when shooting the sequel. Now they drop Edward Norton because they don’t want to pay him even though Marvel is basically swimming in money. I know Norton had some problems with Marvel during The Incredible Hulk, but thats because the man actually cares about the story. He was trying to make the movie more emotional and have more character instead of just big special effects which is what Marvel wanted.
Plus, he was also trying to make due with a crappy script Zak Penn wrote and only did rewrites because Marvel initially asked him to do so during development. Now their replacing him with Mark Ruffalo or Joaquin Phoenix both of which look completely wrong for the part. Both Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo are great actors and I enjoy their work, but they ain’t right for this role. Any true Marvel fan will tell you Norton is head and shoulders more accurate and right for this part than the other 2. It just seems to me that Marvel is really starting to lose track of exactly what their doing.
The point of casting these actors such as Norton, Downey Jr., Hemsworth, Evans, etc. is so they finally meet in The Avengers and fight together. To replace an important character at the last second over money especially when your making millions of dollars off these superheros is just plain idiotic. Sure some are going to be delusional and say Hulk is going to take up more screen time than Banner so theirs no need for Norton. I still find that stupid because during the parts where hes not the Hulk, its going to look completely stupid when someone else is playing this part when we just had Norton doing the part in 2008.
Captain America and Thor being made into 3D during post production is another bad idea for Marvel. Almost every studio exec says their going to make it look good and not like Clash of the Titans, but look at what happened to The Last Airbender….exactly. I’m not hating on Marvel, but their really making some big mistakes with their films. At least the DC side isn’t being so stingy about money and actually hiring good actors and directors for their films.
Do you actually think that “you’re” is spelled “your” and “there” is spelled “their,” are those just typos or is this the new accepted internet parlance that you’re buying into?
I’ve seen more your’s and their’s in the past week than the past year.
It’s making me very angry.
And you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.
Edward Spellchecker Downey, Jr. — you’re a funny person out there. Thanks.
You are correct. I would also like to add the use of their instead of they’re.
You get angry over misspellings? Um… there are bigger things in the world to get angry over if you feel like you must. I think you are simply trying to undermine Farzan’s post without addressing the very good points that he makes.
Some basic English:
Their –definition: something that belongs to them. example: That is their movie to screw up as they see fit.
They’re — definition: they are. example: They’re going to make the movie they want regardless of your ignorant rant.
There — definition: a place or state of being. example: There is no way anyone can take you seriously if you cannot get the use of three similar words correct. OR — There’s no way anyone can take you seriously if you cannot get the use of three similar words correct.
Bottom line: Marvel doesn’t give a rat’s ass what you say because they’re going to make a lot of money off their little superhero movie, despite all the crying, and no matter where it screens, there will be people who go there to see it.
And just so we don’t have to go through this again:
Your — definition: it belongs to you
You’re — definition: you are
I’ll spare you the examples. You wouldn’t appreciate them.
… you just wasted ten minutes of your life.
You just wasted ten minutes of your life. Congrats
“Than they almost lose Jon Favreau for trying to rush Iron Man 2 into development without even contacting Favreau on what their doing.” If you knew the grammatical rules so well to post as comment, how come you didn’t follow them? And you missed one: Than. It’s supposed to be ‘then’. Publick skoole werked for you.
Epic Win ^
Sorry, I couldn’t read the rest of your essay after you contradicted your first sentence in your second.
Joaquin Phoenix as Hulk? Where did you hear that? This article is about Mark Ruffalo in the role. The thought of Hulk with a big bushy taliban beard is very disturbing to me.
“Make due” with a crappy script? Nice one. Unless the humor was unintentional.
Check it …How many different guys have played the Hulk over the years , with Bill Bixby being the most consistent…and all it does is go and bring more attention to the Hulk franchise anyway.. bad press is good press , especially in Hollywood …and a plus with Ruffalo is he can pull off in-jokes , like someone referencing he doesn’t look like previous pictures taken , ” you can say I’ve been having an identity crisis .” Lol , Gold !!!
I couldn’t agree more!
Look number one get off the blogs if your gunna go after grammer and punctuation. and number two get off the blog if you don’t know the source material. number one, Rhodes is BLACK! and always has benn BLACK! Howard may be African american but he doesn’t look like Rhodes. Cheadle does, cause he looks black. they were going classic look for both characters of Tony and Rhodes not Ultimate lik ethey did with Nick Fury. cause trust me we didn’t want another Hasslehoffe or however you spell it( Just in case YOUR nitpicking my spelling.)haha. lame… but i digress. Rhodes had a fucking afro! and the stereotypical look of an afro-american. wide nostrils and big white eyes. which is a an awsome look for a baddass like that. why do you think they went with a black Fury. so shut up. as for Norton. i agree best fit. he was great. but it wasn’t about money… more so with the fact that he was asking about more and he was an ‘Asshole’ on set for whatever reason. and that reason doesn’t matter. people forget that Norton has been humble and has realized taht it just was not gunna work and he backed out. he was not fired like Howard. who by the way made Rhodes GAY, “Tony! Tony!” anyone? now nothing against the gay community but Rhodes is the wrong character to make femenin. as for Rourke, he didn’t care how much he got paid. it was his agents who were tardos saying that he deserves more for an oscar nomination. and then more if he won the oscar… which i don’t necassarily agree with being as ppl hafta campaigne for that shit. its not like teh SAG, CANNES or even the Golden Globe where you get it cause your good at what you do not the money in your followers pockets. And J-Fav was pissed because they wouldn’t let him in on the AVENGERS information that he wanted. which he shouldn’t get cause he’s not directing it, which he was also pissed at, which was NEVER offered to him. only ones it was offered to was Leterrier and Whedon. look at both sides. don’t point fingers caus eyou feel lik eyou NEED to fight the man to get your word out there. they aint gunna change anything cause you and only YOU decided to speak up. get real. everyone is to blame. we forget that the movie studios at companies… if a company feels like you didn’t perform well, wether your a burger flipper, plumber, stripper or actor. you will be fired or your pay won’t go up. plus Marvel has lost a lot of money. how they did that is none of our business. but why do you think they crawled on their knees with open arms to Disney? get off the blog buddy. you sound dumb.
Excellent post, Farzan. When the extent of a persons ability to debate is merely pointing out spelling errors, you have made very good points. So, ignore those stupid cowards. Anyway, Marvel is indeed going in a very bad direction. The irony to all this is that it was The Incredible Hulk that sparked new hope for great things to come. Then we had the Iron Man 2 recasting of Rhodes, then the insulting and sloppy casting of Captain America. I was looking forward to the Avengers because it would have been amazing to see Norton with Downey and the others actors needed to distract people from Chris Evans pretending to be Captain America. Kevein Feige is unprofessional and a liar. He attacked Norton’s credibility and talent as an actor as if he was an angry teenaged girl in highschool. Mark Ruffulo should be booed into oblivion if he sets foot on satage with the rest of the cast.
Why has it taken so long for Deadline to address this Edward Norton vs. Marvel thing…its been top subject for the past week and Ed Norton was even in the top internet searches for the past few days…i hate reading about this stuff at LA Times, would much rather read it here. And this seems to be MAJOR with Marvel getting backlash over this firing…so whose in the right? Is Ed Norton really a primadonna, hard to work with…or does Marvel prefer its employees to shut up and not express ANY creative incite when it comes to their properties?
Ed Norton is really a primadonna; his reputation both precedes and follows him. I am a huge fan of his performances but he is sadly a jack ass :(
First of all MARVEL is notoriously difficult to work with. Their position is and will always be ‘it is a great privilege and great exposure to be in a MARVEL produced film.’ They really have the same attitude as HITCHCOCK when it comes to Actors. Yes Norton is difficult but he has never been just ‘collect the check’ kind of a guy. He wants the best for the HULK and look what happened to PART 2, sure it made money but let’s face it it sucked. Hulk is one of the most beloved Marvel characters yet it hasn’t even come close to Spider-man’s numbers. This is incompetence. Yes there was a money dispute but when Ed realized he would just have to ACT and shut up..he upped his price, which wasn’t too crazy because we all know Marvel is notoriously cheap! Their idiots. I can’t wait until the public has had it’s fill of MARVEL…all the douchebags over there will be dead before the next wave of Marvel fanfare hits the screen.
I can understand why they didn’t report on it since they weren’t the ones to break the story, but I agree that I’d like to hear the Deadline inside take on Feige vs. Norton’s agent.
Sure, Norton has a reputation for having pretty strong opinions, but I thought Feige’s statement was classless to the extreme.
As for Mark Ruffalo — what’s so crazy about the casting choice? He’s about the same age and fame level as Norton and Bana.
The same fame level? Are you drunk?
Ed Norton is a nightmare to work with. Takes over every production, makes life miserable for cast and crew. Thinks he’s smarter than everyone else, thinks he’s a genius. Incredibly arrogant. Studios know it. Have you seen him much lately? There’s good reason.
He and Carnahan would be a good bet for A-Team 2 if they didn’t kill each other….oh wait….there won’t be an A-team sequel….130 million worldwide pretty much doomed that franchise potential….ahem.
Ruffalo is one of the best guys in this business. Made a movie with him and he was a pleasure through and through. Good to see him taking this kind of role….
GET OUT! That is pretty cool. Mark Ruffalo is one of the most underrated actors in the business. I actually think he is a bit above this nonsense, but good for him if so.
Compared to Norton? No.
However, compared to other choices Marvels probably looking over? Probably better.
I wish they’d just announce a short list and let us all vote on it. I’m kinda hoping they take Ruffalo if just because I can see them doing a whole lot worse.
Great for Mark. Does this mean UTA will get agency commissions?
Yeah this means that UTA will get the commission since their is not currently a deal in place and when there is they will have been the ones to negotiate it.
I will miss Norton, but this is just about as good of a replacement as I could ever think of. Ruffalo would make an amazing Bruce Banner.
Love this actor, physically he reminds me more of Eric Bana’s Bruce Banner than Norton’s, so I find him the perfect “transition” between them, his talent I think is already recognized by most…
Thumbs up for me^^
I wonder if Joss Whedon had any input considering he’s directing the movie.
Big mistake making these 3D. Make ’em good and let them stand on their own. Quickly losing interest in these marvel movies.
awesome pick for bruce banner. should be pretty good stuff
Ruffalo is a great actor but he should stay away from this flop in the making.
If “The Incredible Hulk” and “Iron Man 2” are any indicators, Marvel will continue to overload their movies with good actors who have no worthwhile material to work with.
Norton might have been an asshole but he’s still the best Bruce Banner put on screen. Ruffalo’s casting just seems wierd. But it’ll be intresting to see what he brings to the character of Banner.
Awesome choice. Now I’m really exicted for this. It just sucks that Norton is such an a-hole. He could’ve had a decent franchise under his belt which would’ve enabled him to get more of his passion projects off the ground. Ahh well.
Thank you for reporting this breaking news even if, as usual, you don’t mince words w/ calling Norton “an on-set asshole.” Ruffalo will be great as The Hulk and The Avengers will be that summer’s major hit.
I wanted to know who would have chosen before Comicon, thanks Nikki. Ruffalo is a good choice as a great actor Bana and Norton, but unlike them, is hungry for glory and success.
Why do people continue to mistake Ruffalo’s flavor of understated blandness with understated brilliance? He is incredibly boring.
That’s YOUR opinion, Ryan, and that’s all it is – just an opinion. I happen to enjoy Ruffalo’s performances and think he’s a good onscreen presence that’s capable of appearing genuinely thoughtful and intelligent in his roles, something that must be harder to convey than you would first imagine given the amount of wooden, stiff performers with zero going on upstairs amongst young Hollywood actors.
Dear Ryan, We will see in May 2012 how boring is Ruffalo, especially near puppets like Chris Evans. Meanwhile Watched Shutter Island and Zodiac;)
Amen to that. The man has ruined so many movies already, why keep punishing us?
I hear that Edward Norton is a terrible guy. Enjoy the fact that you say it. Creeps need to be outed.
I forgot to say that Mark Ruffalo is also an example for me: In 2002, he had a brain tumor with facial paralysis. Combat has not surrendered and returned. Great man.
Why are calling Norton an asshole? Oh I see, you’re just repeating rumors, without ever being on set with him (let alone ever meeting him) I’m sure. He’s a talented actor and would’ve held his own if not more against Downey Jr, Jackson etc.. on down.
Marvel screwed him and he deserved better.
That said, Ruffalo will be fine as Banner but I’d prefer someone a little less movie star looks/unconventional looking for the role.
Nikki,
I don’t know anything about the specifics of the Marvel situation. But I have to write to tell you that having made two movies with Edward Norton (rounders, which david levien and I wrote, and The Illusionist, which we produced), I do know this: he is not an on set asshole. He is an actor with an opinion and ideas. Some filmmakers are scared of that. But if you’re not, he is a wonderful collaborator. And, off set, he is a loyal, dedicated guy who does more unpublicized charity work than almost anyone.
Just wanted to give you a first-hand account.
Thanks,
Brian Koppelman
I was surprised to hear that about Ed Norton, glad to hear different from someone who’s actually worked with him. Also, Rounders was a GREAT movie, and the Illusionist was very good as well. Got anything else in the pipeline??
Go see Solitary Man and The Girlfriend Experience!
Happy to hear positive things from Brian Koppelman. I had a similar experience with Edward Norton on American History X. He was devoted to his role, collaborated with a talented cast and crew, and he adroitly navigated through a good deal of ugliness with an undeniably difficult and eccentric director.
Show the man a little respect: he works his ass off, he’s devoted to his craft and, unlike many in the film business, he doesn’t demand any respect he hasn’t earned.
FYI, Ed Norton is the name of Art Carney’s character on The Honeymooners; Edward Norton is an actor/writer/producer/director.
I knew he is a great Actor and Person. Just by watching an interview with him I can sense he is great. Screw greedy Marvel. Thank you for the first hand infos Mr. Koppelman and Dark Blue Ink!
Ugh. Enough with the 3D. It’s price gouging. End of story.
As for Ruffalo… I would NEVER have expected that, which I think is a good thing. He’s always seemed like a kind of Hollywood wallflower, and I think that would translate well to the role of Bruce Banner. There’s a simple innocence to that character that Ed Norton didn’t seem to understand.