While he may not have been the most popular character from the pages of Marvel Comics in the eyes of the general public, The Hulk has always been one of the most important superheroes in the Marvel Universe. This became the reason why Edward Norton was scouted to portray the character as well as his alter-ego Bruce Banner in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk.
While the film may not have been a smashing hit at the box office as some of the other projects in the MCU, it became a gateway for Bruce Banner to enter the franchise. While Mark Ruffalo is now the face of the character, Norton wasn’t far behind in his performance either. But what the star truly feared before singing on the project wasn’t losing the role, but not being able to truly play both Banner and Hulk due to the use of excess CGI.
Edward Norton Feared That He Couldn’t Play The Hulk Because Of CGI
The introduction of The Hulk in the MCU, although was fantastic, was a confusing one as well. While Edward Norton was supposed to be the man who stayed as the face of Bruce Banner in the franchise, Mark Ruffalo became the star the character is remembered by. Since the franchise was still in its infant stage, the future of the film and actors wasn’t set in stone.
Still, the biggest fear that Norton had when he signed in for The Incredible Hulk wasn’t the future of the character, but the present where he was scared that the part of the character would be taken away from him.
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Since the character was a fantasy superhero straight from the pages of Marvel Comics with a striking green color and an impossible amount of muscle mass, it had to be brought to life through CGI.
This became a problem since the Fight Club star wanted to play both the role of Bruce Banner as well as the Green Rage Monster, but the motion capture would have to be done by another professional entirely. In an interview (via MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios), he said:
“If there’s no way for me to play Hulk, then it’s not really that interesting. Because as an actor, that’s what sort of makes it complex.”
The studio assured him that if he wanted to play both characters, then they could use a new motion capture system called MOVA, which would allow him to assume those roles.
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Why Was Edward Norton Replaced By Mark Ruffalo In The MCU?
While it was decided that Norton would be the face to turn into the Hulk when the time came for the epic team-up of The Avengers, it proved to be a bad decision in the end, which led to Marvel Studios firing the star and bringing in the Now You See Me star as Bruce Banner.
The reasons that were reported stated that the actor was having some creative differences with the rest of the team during the pre-production process. Since Norton was heavily invested in the creative process of The Incredible Hulk, he wanted the character to be brought out in a certain way by the team, something that they couldn’t agree on. Therefore, the star took his exit from the franchise.
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The Incredible Hulk, streaming on Disney+.
