When it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, few Avengers have had a more complicated time than Bruce Banner (aka The Hulk). Edward Norton played the titular part in the green giant’s first outing in the Marvel movie The Incredible Hulk. He was then replaced as the character by Mark Ruffalo in the superhero movie The Avengers.
But, although Norton only had one shot as the Hulk, that doesn’t mean his film isn’t remembered fondly. In fact, many fans hold a soft spot for the Marvel film, which the hit Marvel series, She-Hulk, made sure to capitalise on. In the comedy series, we saw a direct mention to Hulk’s recasting, with the Marvel villain Abomination noting that Ruffalo had changed into a different person since the 2008 action movie… literally.
It was a funny moment. However, in a recent interview with The Direct She-Hulk director Kat Coiro revealed that originally the Hulk meta joke wasn’t the only blast from the past that the team had in mind. In fact, they had planned to cast Norton in the TV series, too, swapping him out with Ruffalo for more laughs during the show’s finale.
“There was a lot of talk about the fact that the last time they were together, a different actor was playing the Hulk. And Mark [Ruffalo] made quite a few jokes about that,” Coiro said. “And we did entertain the idea of swapping Mark out for Edward Norton. But that did not come to pass.”
Although Norton never made it onto the She-Hulk set, reference to his MCU character and his confrontation with Abomination does hint that the two will be interacting with each other once again. But, it does seem unlikely that Norton will be up to bat as Hulk in any capacity.
Since Marvel introduced its Multi-verse, we may see Norton as a Hulk from another dimension come Marvel Phase 5; however, neither Marvel or the actor have hinted at a potential reunion. Stay tuned for updates.
You can now watch She-Hulk on the streaming service Disney Plus. For more green fun; here is everything we know about She-Hulk season 2.