Edward Norton’s 2008 The Incredible Hulk is one of the rare Marvel misses of the last few years, a stab at something darker and heavier than the sunny, comedic MCU that began to take shape that same year in Iron Man. Much has been made of the missed opportunity, as well as the fact that Norton was eventually replaced by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers. In an interview with the New York Times, Norton revisited the ordeal, saying that Marvel had apparently been in support of his vision to make a serious Hulk film, in the vein of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, before sprinting in the opposite direction.
“What Chris Nolan had done with Batman was going down a path that I aligned with: long, dark and serious,” Norton said. “If there was ever a thing that I thought had that in it, it was the Hulk. It’s literally the Promethean myth. I laid out a two-film thing: The origin and then the idea of Hulk as the conscious dreamer, the guy who can handle the trip. And they were like, ‘That’s what we want!’ As it turned out, that wasn’t what they wanted. But I had a great time doing it. I got on great with [Marvel boss] Kevin Feige.”
At the time, though, it seems otherwise. After Norton was replaced in 2010, the Marvel chief released a statement saying the studio’s decision was “definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members.”
In the Times interview, Norton called the statement “cheap.” “It was brand defensiveness or something,” he said. “Ultimately they weren’t going for long, dark, and serious. But it doesn’t matter. We had positive discussions about going on with the films, and we looked at the amount of time that would’ve taken, and I wasn’t going to do that.”
As for the detail about “monetary factors,” Norton revealed that he “honestly would’ve wanted more money than they’d have wanted to pay me. But that’s not why I would’ve wanted to do another Hulk movie anyway. I went and did all the other things I wanted to do, and what Kevin Feige has done is probably one of the best executions of a business plan in the history of the entertainment industry. As a Disney shareholder, you should be on your feet for what they pulled off.”
Regarding the salary offer, Norton’s comment wouldn’t be the first one waged against the studio notorious for its penny-pinching in the early days. In 2009, it was reported that Mickey Rourke was initially only offered $250,000 to star in Iron Man 2, a film that would eventually gross $623 million worldwide. After playing Rhodey in Iron Man, Terrence Howard left the franchise over a salary dispute for the sequel and was replaced by Don Cheadle. The company’s slim budget has occasionally been traced back to former Marvel Studios CEO Ike Perlmutter, who has reportedly complained about the company’s spending on everything, from allowances to stars traveling on Marvel’s dime, to food offered at junkets and premieres.
The Incredible Hulk was a mild success with critics and did fairly well at the box office, grossing $263 million worldwide against a reported $150 million budget. However, compared to the massive, billion-dollar hauls of modern Marvel movies—from the Thor movies to the core Avengers series—it has become a minor footnote within the massive world that came after at.
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