Having parted company with Ed Norton in rather acrimonious circumstances (Kevin Feige suggesting Norton was a stroppy git, before Norton proved his point with a haughtily affronted public retort), Marvel were forced to break with continuity and find themselves a new Hulk. So it was that Mark Ruffalo was unveiled as a Norton’s replacement at Comic-Con to widespread approval.
“He was my first and only choice for Bruce Banner," Whedon told MTV. "I'm stunned that we landed that, just stunned. He has what I remember loving about the show, he invites you in in a way that (no) other performer has since Bill Bixby. He is a guy who's been beaten up by life, but not defined by that. That’s what I want from Bruce Banner, is a guy who’s still getting it done, even though he has his problem.”
Ruffalo for his part was diplomatic about the whole Norton debacle, asserting there were no hard feelings between the two stars. “I'm a friend of Ed's,” he said, “and yeah, that wasn't a great way for all that to go down. But the way I see it is that Ed has bequeathed this part to me. I look at it as my generation's Hamlet."
“He's a guy struggling with two sides of himself, the dark and the light,” continues Ruffalo. “Everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control. I grew up on the Bill Bixby TV series, which I thought was a really nuanced and really human way to look at the Hulk. I like that the part has those qualities.”
Happily for Ruffalo, he’s managed to dodge the frenzied gym sessions forced upon his Avengers teammates in order to accentuate the physical differences between Bruce Banner and his big, green alter-ego.
“I’ve lost 15 pounds,” revealed the star. “They don’t want me all ripped up, but they want me to be lean and mean. It’s about trying to get the psychology of somebody who knows, at any moment, they could literally tear the roof off of wherever they are and trying to bring something real to that and totally fantastic.”
« Previous 10 of 15 Next »
© Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath BA1 2BW. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.
Try This...
Latest Reviews
The Hangover Part III
Epic
The Company You Keep
Comments
Hadouken76
May 10th 2011, 9:41
No profile on Black Widow? Not surprised, the words 'surplus to requirements' spring to mind
Alert a moderator
ChrisWootton
May 10th 2011, 11:11
Isn't Hawkeye supposed to be deaf?
Alert a moderator
mcghater
May 10th 2011, 13:31
@chriswootton no hes not
Alert a moderator
ChrisWootton
May 10th 2011, 13:38
Cheers mcghater. For some reason I'd convinced myself that he was... where did that come from?
Alert a moderator
SiMan
May 10th 2011, 14:07
Hawkeye was supposed to be 'Dead' at one point, maybe that's what you were thinking. I for one think that regardless of the outcome of the Avengers movie, the idea behind setting all of these movies in the same universe and linking them together is a brilliant move and a long overdue one in Hollywood land. With the amount of dire cross-overs that have been attempted in the past (i'm look at you AvP), i'm just glad that they've started from scratch with the intention of linking them together. The only downside i see is that it would have worked a lot better as TV shows - get a lot more in that way. The Civil War storyline is prime material for a mini-series.
Alert a moderator
Hadouken76
May 10th 2011, 14:09
Edgar Wright is suppposed to be filming Antman, I'm sure he will have a 'small' role in it somewhere. Ha! (Crickets chirp...tumbleweeds... coat collected)
Alert a moderator
DanRose
May 10th 2011, 14:39
Taxi for Hadouken!...But no, seriously this is hopefully gonna be a massive success. I await with 'ant'-icipation....
Alert a moderator
ChrisWootton
May 10th 2011, 14:40
Ha SiMan, that could well be it and totally agree, I'm quite looking forward to this now. Watched Iron Man the other night (thought the sequel was pretty lame) really good fun movie and off to see Thor this week!!
Alert a moderator
trist808
May 10th 2011, 14:52
Hawkeye has died in the comics, but was brought back (like so many other Marvel heroes over the years) as another character in The New Avengers. The Ant-Man film is planned for 2014 (I think) with a view to introducing the Pyms into the Marvel-Movie-Verse ready for possibly inclusion in The Avengers 2 (which will undoubtly happen and be greenlit at 9am on May 5th 2012 - lol) Each film links/crosses over into the others (so far) so any further stand-alone films I would imagine are gonna be considered part of the canyon and would somehow be worked into future projects. I do love the idea of a Civil War mini-series, that would be fantastic, characters would be given more development time in a TV series, but the budget would be smaller although I still think they could really do it justice that way. However it's more likely that the concept of Civil War might be used as a storyline for an Avengers sequel ... giving the team some major internal conflict as Iron Man & Cap go toe to toe with each other and The Avengers fracture into two separate teams. It could still work in a smaller two hour movie, but they'd have to crop the story something fierce. And are we ready for Speedball on the big screen? Maybe his more serious/cooler alter-ego Penance would be better? lol
Alert a moderator
robspare
May 13th 2011, 11:44
@ChrisWootton, you're right about Hawkeye's hearing impairment. Just prior to his marriage to Mockingbird, in order to escape from a villain known as Crossfire, Hawkeye had to use a sonic arrow which damaged his hearing (Hawkeye Mini Series comics published 1983). He was then using hearing aids, until the Heores Reborn event. When Franklin Richards returned the heroes to existence, he returned them as he remembered them, so Hawkeye's hearing was no longer impaired (comics published around 1986).
Alert a moderator
robspare
May 13th 2011, 11:45
Heroes Reborn was 1996 sorry.
Alert a moderator