Marvel fans could have met Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner much sooner had Louis Leterrier’s plans for Edward Norton as Bruce Banner aka Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk was the second film in the The Avengers later featured a different Bruce Banner.
The Hulk as viewers now know it was introduced in The Avengers in 2012, played by Mark Ruffalo, who reprised the role in Avengers: Endgame. But fans could have seen Ruffalo as Bruce Banner earlier, had Marvel not been so keen on casting Edward Norton.
Mark Ruffalo Was Almost Cast In The Incredible Hulk
While promoting his film Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, but Marvel wasn’t into the idea. Speaking to The Huffington Post, Leterrier explained that Marvel wanted Edward Norton because he was “more famous” and because Ruffalo only did “smart, intellectual movies” back then. Leterrier went on to cast Ruffalo in Now You See Me a few years later, and he eventually ed the MCU in The Avengers – and it was better that way.
Why It’s Good Ruffalo Wasn’t In Incredible Hulk
Although Hulk, it wasn’t a memorable film, and not because of Norton’s portrayal of the title character, but because the story wasn’t the best. Had Ruffalo ed the film as Leterrier wanted, it only would have hurt his image as the Hulk before the character’s appearance in The Avengers, and wouldn’t have changed The Incredible Hulk for the better. Again, the problem wasn’t the actor, but the story. The Incredible Hulk ended up being forgettable, and the Hulk’s big break came in The Avengers, which established Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk fans had been waiting for for years, pretty much saving the character and securing his future in the MCU.
