Edward Norton reveals Marvel scrapped his plans for a dark ‘Hulk’ movie

Edward Norton says he and Marvel Studios were going to do a film centered on a darker version of the Hulk.

Although the Hulk has consistently been a fan-favorite character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his popularity has not been able to land him another solo film. 2008’s The Incredible Hulk is his only solo MCU outing to date but, according to former Hulk actor Edward Norton, that wasn’t supposed to be the case.

Norton recently spoke about his career at length with The New York Times, and talk eventually turned to his brief stint with Marvel Studios. While speaking on his love of the Green Goliath, he revealed that he and Marvel originally mapped out two films. The first would serve as an introduction to Bruce Banner, while the sequel would take the character into murkier territory:

"“I laid out a two-film thing: The origin and then the idea of Hulk as the conscious dreamer, the guy who can handle the trip."

Marvel Studios initially seemed to be on board with the idea of a darker take on the Hulk, until they decided to change directions, as Norton points out:

"“And they were like, “That’s what we want!” As it turned out, that wasn’t what they wanted.”"

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Nevertheless, the actor seems to have enjoyed his experience working on The Incredible Hulk and even mentioned that he worked well with Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige. He was, however, disappointed when Feige released a statement on Marvel’s decision not to bring him back for The Avengers. The statement implied that Norton had been difficult to work with, which the actor refers to as “cheap.” But he admits there were still positive talks between him and the studio about the possible future of the franchise:

"“Yeah, which was cheap. It was brand defensiveness or something. Ultimately they weren’t going for long, dark and serious. But it doesn’t matter. We had positive discussions about going on with the films…”"

Even though Mark Ruffalo has become the actor most people think of when they picture Bruce Banner, Norton’s portrayal still receives praise. An actor of his caliber could have made a dark, psychological Hulk film interesting.

The character’s MCU arc may not have been what fans expected, but his roles in the Avengers franchise and Thor: Ragnarok were well-received. And after Avengers: Endgame, there’s still plenty that can be done with the gamma-powered hero.