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Even though I think Ed Norton did a GREAT job as Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk, Marvel is not asking him to reprise the role in the upcoming Avengers movie in 2012.

Why? Because they say they want people who can work with other actors and be a team player! WTF? Has anyone ever heard that Ed Norton was a prima donna? I've always heard he was the consummate professional.

Thoughts?

Word on the street is that Norton is a pretty big perfectionist and likes to stick his hands into the directing and editing process, too.

Yeah, I heard he CAN be a pain in the ass to work with because things have to be done HIS way... not really because of him being a prima donna, but because he's a perfectionist and likes things done what he considers to be right and ..uh..ok, yeah, that's being a bit of a prima donna.

It's he-said-she-said, but what the rep claims seems to be more in line with what we've all heard so far, as opposed to the Marvel statement.

Marvel kicks Edward Norton out of The Avengers, issues statement implying he's kind of a dick | Film | Newswire | The A.V. Club

The AVClub and their pretty illustrative scoop--including the response from the Norton camp!

My prediction from reading the title was wrong. I thought he would step out because of getting linked to a multi-movie contract to make popcorn flicks would be beneath and actor of his caliber.

---------- Post added at 05:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:38 PM ----------

It also saves Ed from being directed by Joss.

I guess they're going for the third time casting Hulk to be a charm.

I'm thinking a stringy yet still sort-of-creepy-sometimes actor would be great for Banner.. someone like Steve Buscemi.

They need to stop casting actors who have lots of muscles. Even though Norton wasn't THAT ripped for his Hulk, he was still in too-good of a shape for Banner. And Bana was ridiculous.

I'll play Banner. I'm nothing special to look at. I'm a big overweight and I'm old enough to be a scientist of his caliber.

Give me the part and I'll do it for scale.

Banner can't be FAT either, dude. He has to be stringy and have like 0% body fat with 0% muscle tissue. Y'know, the exact opposite to The Hulk.

Also, he's supposed to be in his early 30s, he's a scientist of his caliber cause he's one of the brightest minds in all the Marvel universe, not cause he's old ¬¬

Calleja said:

Banner can't be FAT either, dude. He has to be stringy and have like 0% body fat with 0% muscle tissue. Y'know, the exact opposite to The Hulk.

Also, he's supposed to be in his early 30s, he's a scientist of his caliber cause he's one of the brightest minds in all the Marvel universe, not cause he's old ¬¬

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Pfft. If he's so smart, why can he never cure himself?

In fact, I'm curious: in the comics, what was the last successful scientific endeavor Mr. Banner took up?

You name it. He's ALWAYS one of the first people being consulted when end-of-the-world or even universe scenarios pop up. It's him, Reed Richards and Tony Stark.

That's if they don't stab him in the back and shoot him off into space, that is.

Best line from the article

AV Club said:

In the meantime, speculation has begun about who’s replacing Norton, with CHUD already exploring the fringes by reporting that an offer went out to Joaquin Phoenix. (Because, you know, nothing says “creative and collaborative spirit” like a guy who pretended to be a rapper and let someone take a huge shit on his chest just to make a two-hour inside joke.) That’s just a rumor right now; you can probably expect to hear many more of them in the coming weeks.

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Hulk smash! Hulk....Hulk got munchies. Hulk need Doritos and some Yoohoo. Dude. Hulk mellow.

If I remember correctly, Norton pretty much decided how the entire Hulk film needed to be made. Not something you really want in a group ensemble picture. Though I wonder if it is yet possible to make a good Hulk movie. The green leviathan is just so ridiculous up on screen it suspends disbelief. And with the current power levels of the Hulk it's rather silly in a movie.

What the hell are you talking about "is it possible to make a good Hulk movie"!?

It's happened! It's called "The Incredible Hulk" and is one FUCKING AWESOME movie!

That's a shame. Norton was pretty solid as the Hulk as far as superhero movies go.

Joaquin Pheonix? I thought he went nuts..... and is that... real? Someone took a shit on his chest? WTF

Oh like you've never let someone drop a deuce on your chest for the sake of a complicated joke.

A girl once asked if she could pee on me.

I said "uhh... no, but there's a bathroom right there if you can't wait."

closest I've gotten to bathroom fetishes.

Did this happen in Starbucks?

I really don't know how I feel about this. I have to admit I am not a person that takes actor changes very well, I find that often the shock of the different actor takes me out of the movie for a few seconds each time they appear. This happened a lot in Iron Man 2 and was one of my big disappointments, even though I love Don Cheadle, just because watching him interact with RDJ's Tony Stark felt weird to me.

You know, I almost wish if they are going to do this, that they simply go the route of him being in his Hulk form permanently. Then they can just use the CGI Hulk and have some other actors with a audio effect over his voice. It would actually be less of a shock to me when I watch the movie.

Won't happen though, and probably not the right choice for the film, but hey, just my own musing.

You need to work on your suspension of disbelief if what an actor looks like affects your appreciation of the character that much, dude.

Hell, how have you managed to watch ANY Bond film EVER?

He's only watched Timothy Dalton, cause he heard he was the best.

That's a fantastic reply from Norton. He's Grade A class.

Calleja said:

Hell, how have you managed to watch ANY Bond film EVER?

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That is actually easy for me, as I am one of the few that follow the idea that James Bond is just a code name that goes with Agent 007. All the people that have played the role of James Bond were simply different people who took up the name, and emulated some of his best known characteristics in order to keep up the legacy of James Bond. Really, what type of spy would use his real name all over the place when speaking with his enemies? "Bond... James Bond..."

Really, it's just something that happens. When I first saw the third Harry Potter movie, I was used to Richard Harris and how he played this soft, wise, almost grandfather-ish Dumbledore, so when Michael Gambon appeared and started talking rather quickly and much more pronounced, it took me a bit out of the story for a second. I am obviously used to him now, much more the Richard Harris, but I am just not a person that can instantly overlook an actor change in a major part as if it never happened unless they go out of the way to give it a reason.

Remember in the Matrix? The sequels were horrible, but I appreciated the fact they wrote in a inner-continuity reason for why the Oracle was being played by a different actress following the death of the original. It allowed me to skip the questions and just go "ohhhh that what they are doing" and move on. Call me crazy, but that's how I work.

Calleja said:

Banner can't be FAT either, dude. He has to be stringy and have like 0% body fat with 0% muscle tissue. Y'know, the exact opposite to The Hulk.

Also, he's supposed to be in his early 30s, he's a scientist of his caliber cause he's one of the brightest minds in all the Marvel universe, not cause he's old ¬¬

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Norton didn't play Banner just starting out, he played him after months or years spent trying to control the Hulk inside him. All the training that he went through to control his body turned him from a no muscle-tone desk-jockety into a more toned physique.

ScytheRexx;413784][QUOTE=Calleja said:

Hell, how have you managed to watch ANY Bond film EVER?

Click to expand...

That is actually easy for me, as I am one of the few that follow the idea that James Bond is just a code name that goes with Agent 007. All the people that have played the role of James Bond were simply different people who took up the name, and emulated some of his best known characteristics in order to keep up the legacy of James Bond. Really, what type of spy would use his real name all over the place when speaking with his enemies? "Bond... James Bond..."

Really, it's just something that happens. When I first saw the third Harry Potter movie, I was used to Richard Harris and how he played this soft, wise, almost grandfather-ish Dumbledore, so when Michael Gambon appeared and started talking rather quickly and much more pronounced, it took me a bit out of the story for a second. I am obviously used to him now, much more the Richard Harris, but I am just not a person that can instantly overlook an actor change in a major part as if it never happened unless they go out of the way to give it a reason.

Remember in the Matrix? The sequels were horrible, but I appreciated the fact they wrote in a inner-continuity reason for why the Oracle was being played by a different actress following the death of the original. It allowed me to skip the questions and just go "ohhhh that what they are doing" and move on. Call me crazy, but that's how I work.[/QUOTE]

no, its just James Bond. But in the future I will try and not put an odd number of forks on the table.

No Downey Jr.? I thought he was a sure thing for the Avengers...

Shame about Norton not being in the Avengers, I was really looking forward to seeing all these big name actors bring their heroes to the screen. My guess is that Bruce Banners role in the movie will be limited and as such not worth spending a lot of money for the actor.

Dude, Downey Jr Will be on Avengers, I don't know what you're talking about and I've seen Iron Man 2 4 times.

Jiarn said:

If you've seen Iron Man 2, you know what I'm talking about.

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That dig about wanting Iron man and not Tony Stark? I think that was just setting up some comedic tension between Shield and Tony . Considering the scene at the end of Incredible Hulk it appears that Shield and Tony have more or less made up since Iron man 2 (slightly annoying that they are making these movies out of sync).

Jiarn said:

If you've seen Iron Man 2, you know what I'm talking about.

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I have and I don't.

Wyrminarrd;413862][QUOTE=Jiarn said:

If you've seen Iron Man 2, you know what I'm talking about.

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That dig about wanting Iron man and not Tony Stark? I think that was just setting up some comedic tension between Shield and Tony . Considering the scene at the end of Incredible Hulk it appears that Shield and Tony have more or less made up since Iron man 2 (slightly annoying that they are making these movies out of sync).[/QUOTE]

Well, here's hoping you're right.

Jiarn;413868][QUOTE=Wyrminarrd;413862][QUOTE=Jiarn said:

If you've seen Iron Man 2, you know what I'm talking about.

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That dig about wanting Iron man and not Tony Stark? I think that was just setting up some comedic tension between Shield and Tony . Considering the scene at the end of Incredible Hulk it appears that Shield and Tony have more or less made up since Iron man 2 (slightly annoying that they are making these movies out of sync).[/QUOTE]

Well, here's hoping you're right.[/QUOTE]

He is. RDJ is already signed up, and every single source of information about the movie has him attached to it. You're reading too much into a single line from Iron Man 2.

Downey Jr is going to be on Avengers. It's not a hope thing. It's a fact of life. They would have a RIOT on their hands if they had ANYONE ELSE play Iron Man for the next decade.

Downey Jr. Does His Avengers Homework

It looks like Robert Downey Jr. gave one comic book store clerk a day to remember. The "Iron Man" franchise actor was spotted buying both "Iron Man" and "Avengers" comics in Hollywood on Wednesday (June 2nd). It appears he's doing his homework for when he brings his Tony Stark/Iron Man to the set of Marvel Studios' The Avengers, which he'll film after shooting Sherlock Holmes 2.

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I have a feeling Norton will eventually get into the movie. I seem to recall hearing that Sam Jackson was originally NOT planned to be in the Avengers, too.

Still, if not, it's a shame because I liked his take on Bruce Banner.

Want to bet on your feeling?

He's given an official statement. His agent has given an official statement. Marvel has given an official statement.

There is now a better chance of Marlon Brando playing Bruce Banner than there is of Norton returning. Seriously.

Yeah but Marlon Brando's agent would have given Marvel an offer they couldn't refuse.

Edit: And then he would have shown up grossly overweight without having read the script and insisted on improvising his scenes making the entire production go even further behind schedule.

This pisses me off.

So much.

I dunno, I'm not really surprised at all. Something with Avengers' cast had to give somewhere.

Calleja said:

Want to bet on your feeling?

He's given an official statement. His agent has given an official statement. Marvel has given an official statement.

There is now a better chance of Marlon Brando playing Bruce Banner than there is of Norton returning. Seriously.

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Yeah...well...there's a better chance of your FACE playing Bruce Banner.

Please, Calleja's face isn't even a member of one of the actor's guilds...

They refused it entry cause they said it looked too much like Bruce Willis' and I had to change it slightly if I wanted to register.

Ewwwwwwww, Hairlip Hulk.

The latest buzz is about Mark Ruffalo being offered the job. I support this since he's a terrific actor.

The Lovely Boner said:

The latest buzz is about Mark Ruffalo being offered the job. I support this since he's a terrific actor.

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I can't quite picture it. I think I always associate him with dramas and romantic comedies, so I can't see him doing action/sci-fi well.

I can totally picture him in the meek Bruce Banner role... has he done similar nerdy/awkward roles? I seem to have memories of him being like that but I can't recall from where

As far as Norton being removed from this picture goes...well, I can understand it. I've heard the claims about the level of creative control he tries to exert on films he is in and I can understand Marvel not exactly wanting to risk that on what is bound to be a expensive ensemble picture. And considering the less than desired box office performance of Incredible Hulk, I can see them feeling that replacing Norton is a valid financial option. We will have to see how it works out.

And as far as that line of dialogue about "wanting Iron Man, not Stark", that is just Marvel leaving themselves options. RDJ plays a very bombastic Tony Stark and it might be to their benefit to not have him in every team scene. Having him be Fury's right hand man would allow for him to be a major character in the flick, without having him "drown out" Captain America...especially since Don Cheadle's Rhodey could make a damn fine SHIELD Iron Man. Likewise, one can easily imagine RDJ's Stark entering the field unasked, delivering a pithy line about consulting in the field to Sam Jackson when called on it.

Like I said, options.

Let the "No way in hell" rumors begin!

Movies - News - - Digital Spy

Before you get your hopes up, the same site is also claiming that Matt Smith may be leaving after the next Who season. So yeah.

Nathan Fillion?? OMGYES. Please please please let him get the role. It would make sense with Joss Whedon at the helm, too.