norton out as hulk

You probably heard over the weekend that Edward Norton won’t be returning to play the Hulk for the AVENGERS movie. Since then, there’s been a bit of public back-and-forth at Hitflix between Marvel and the actor’s reps disputing the exact reasons for his departure. First, there was the company’s statement, then there was Norton’s agent’s response. Now, Chud’s breaking the rumor that Joaquin Phoenix might be the name actor Marvel’s talking to about taking on the role. I don’t think we’ll be getting an official announcement about it until next week in San Diego.

I’m not going to make any conjectures about this situation - - I’ll leave that up to you all. What I will say is that this is a reminder that fans shouldn’t take for granted how ambitious an endeavor the AVENGERS movie is going to be. It’s bold to use four film series to set up one mega film over five years. What’s perhaps even bolder is trying to get the schedules of so many leading men to coincide for this crossover, because it’s a lot more difficult than you think.

One movie I’m really looking forward to seeing next month is THE EXPENDABLES, which has the unstated premise of putting every action star under the same bill. With 10 big names, already, it’s already got quite an impressive cast, but fans are still asking why Jean-Claude Van Damme or Wesley Snipes aren’t in it. It’s coming out now that they were actually considered and approached, but they either didn’t like their parts or they weren’t available. Issues like this come up for ensemble pictures and it's a trick for any production to surmount them.

Anyway, what does the Comic Vine community think of these developments? Are you disappointed that Norton isn’t returning? Do you figure Phoenix fits the part?

I liked Norton as Banner...shame he wont be in the Avengers.

yea, and i just don't feel that ruffalo's in the same class.