By now, it’s certainly no secret that Edward Norton isn’t all that fond of Marvel Studios or the movie in which he starred for them, that being The Incredible Hulk.
Long story short, the acclaimed actor had a hand in the creative process extending beyond merely inhabiting the role of Bruce Banner, and wanted a say in the final cut. Ultimately, the studio got final say and released a picture that Norton felt was short on character development. Being the second film comprising what’s now the gargantuan Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’d eventually become apparent that each installment would essentially be the product of an assembly line. In other words, it’s not the place for auteurs requesting carte blanche.
Eventually, Norton would be replaced by Mark Ruffalo, who’s run with the torch in several flicks to follow. And though I’ve grown to like the latter very much, it’s hard to not sympathize with the former.
While participating in Comedy Central’s roast of Bruce Willis, Norton jested about wanting to be a genre hero much like the living legend himself, though wasn’t able to resist taking a jab at the Marvel machine in the process, saying:
“I tried to be like you. I did a big action movie called The Incredible Hulk. You know what went wrong? I wanted a better script. I thought we should try to make one Marvel movie that was as good as the worst Chris Nolan movie, but what the hell was I thinking.”
Admittedly, I regard The Incredible Hulk as being one of the MCU’s most underrated and underappreciated offerings, but I imagine that it’d have been even better had Norton’s wishes been granted. It’s also not entirely out of line to make the Nolan comparison because, in my view, The Dark Knight Trilogy remains the gold standard for what superhero movies can achieve.
Tell us, did you dig Norton’s turn as the Green Goliath, or do you think it could’ve been so much more? Sound off in the usual place below!
