It's a strange series of occurrence when a fledging studio decides against (re)hiring one of the finest actors of his generation for a role he was apparently excited about coming back for. But that's just what Marvel have done with Ed Norton, The Hulk and the soon-to-shoot Avengers movie.
According to Hitfix.com, Norton began speaking to the upper brass at Marvel a few weeks ago about reprising his role as Bruce Banner and The Hulk in The Avengers movie. He even met with the film's director, Joss Whedon and spoke about the characrer and what they could do with him in the superhero heavy universe. Negotiations begun, and evidently collapsed over money; but Marvel didn't say this, they instead (kinda) insulted Norton in a statement: "Our decision [to recast the role] is 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." Needless to say, Norton's people didn't like this one bit, and his agent retorted with: "This offensive statement from Kevin Feige at Marvel is a purposefully misleading, inappropriate attempt to paint our client in a negative light."
It seems Norton wanted to come back, and had even made some room in his schedule to do so; but money was the issue, just as it appeared to be with Terrance Howard and him bouncing from Iron Man 2. With Comic Con coming up in a couple of weeks, and Marvel to unveil the starry Avengers cast then, rumours are that Joaquin Phoenix may be in discussions for the role. I thought he retired amidst a blaze of incoherent ramblings and poorly grown facial hair?
