It seems that by the the end of tomorrow, we just may know who will be taking Edward Norton's place as The Hulk/Bruce Banner. At least we will, according to TheWrap, who reports that "one knowledgeable individual" has told them that actor Mark Ruffalo, who was recently rumored for the part is finalizing a deal with Marvel today. Should that go according to plan, Ruffalo will then be whisked-away from his home in New York and flown down to San Diego to join Marvel Studios' big Comic-Con panel.
There is no word yet on the progress of those negotiations, but it would definitely be cutting things close, even if they did manage to work things out by the end of today.
This bit of news, much like the Wonder Woman report from earlier, is still strictly a rumor. However, tomorrow will be the first real opportunity for Marvel to woo the public over Avengers crossover films Thor and Captain America: The First Avengers. Therefore, it probably should come as no big surprise that they may have an ace up their sleeves regarding the culmination of those films in The Avengers. With the publicized drama over Edward Norton's unceremonious exit from the Marvel movie-verse still fresh in the minds of fans, it would also be good strategy towards minimizing fanboy backlash by getting Ruffalo (or whoever it may be) out there to meet and greet the public, ripping that band-aid off as quickly as possible.
TheWrap also had some details on the negotiatons process with Ruffalo, stating:
"The sticking point in negotiations is related to payment and the number of films to which Ruffalo would commit. According to the knowledgeable individual, Marvel wants Ruffalo to sign on for between four and six Marvel movies. And Marvel is famous for squeezing talent on salaries, despite the huge success of Iron Man."
Humongous "multi-multi-multi-film" contracts seem to be in vogue over at Marvel Studios, as evidenced by Samuel L. Jackson's 9-picture deal, which has him firmly-locked for a solid run throughout the various Avengers films they will release in the impending years. It's quite a big commitment, especially for an actor like Ruffalo, who is entirely new to the genre and may want some room to dip his toes into the pool before jumping in.
What do you think is going down tomorrow at the Marvel Studios panel?
Source: TheWrap
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The Nameless Monster
Norton was even involved in the writing in the last film and helped shape that movie. So if it's the same Hulk and actors from the last one then I'm happy for the most part.
Zzanzabar
BigAngryRobot hit the nail on the head! Once you screw with the origin story too much then you lose what the movie is all about. A movie made on the premise that 90mins of 'Hulk smash' will carry it is doomed. It doesn't help that you grow the Hulk to the size of a house in one movie then shrink him down to that of a truck in the next, helps in continuity.
hakeem0996
I WANT NORTON BACK,IF THEY HAD FOLLOW HIS RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE MOVIE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ALOT BETTER EVEN TAUGHT I STILL LIKE THE VERSION THAT CAME OUT
BigAngryRobot
The bottom line (figures from boxoffice.com and Wikipedia):
Hulk (2003) -
Box office - $132 million U.S., $245 million global; Budget - $137 million
The Incredible Hulk (2008) -
Box office - $134 million U.S., $263 million global; Budget - $150 million
So regardless of which movie you liked more, the Hulk franchise isn't doing that hot compared to the Spider-Man and Iron Man franchises. It's doing about the same as the Fantastic Four. Yeesh.
I don't see how Marvel can do any better since they sort of flubbed the Hulk's origin story, rebooted, sort of flubbed again, ...and now they want to reboot again? It'd be like Marvel rolling the dice and rebooting the Punisher for the fourth time, hoping they finally got the formula right.
I'd like to see the Hulk again in an Avengers storyline but... no more "kinda-sorta good" Hulk sequels, please.
Pippdaddy
For this role, Norton is way better than Ruffalo; I say this because Norton is a little crazy which fits the part perfect and I think he did a nice job his first time so why not bring him back? Ruffalo is one of those actors that just seems to depress me and hes never done anything even close to this genre. If this rumor is true, I'll be a little sad.
gamerboy2010
interesting ,why is their a new actor every time a new hulk movie comes out(bana,norton,ruffalo?)
flipflopbootybop
Mark Ruffalo isn't a horrible pick, even though he is the king of chick flicks..Ha...I say let Markie play the Hulk, why not? Edward Norton could really careless about the role, probably to busy listening to a "Who." Hahaha, that was lame but it did make me chuckle...
thWIIsixty
I'm telling you now, EVERYONE at that panel better start screaming WE WANT NORTON!
fnnymn839
Bring edward Norton back!!!!!!!!
greasy82
eh. Mark Ruffalo is okay but I wouldn't call him a great talent or anything. He sure looks like a nerd but that's about it.
RPG-fan
it's sad Norton won't be back as the Hulk but happy for Ruffalo. He's an underrated actor and was terrific in Zodiac.
TheAOTSdude
Ohh how I hope this is true
Displaying 1–12 of 12