10 Huge What Ifs That Could Have Changed The MCU Forever
3. What If Edward Norton Fulfilled His Contract?
Whether it be for better or worse, Edward Norton has always had a reputation as an actor that likes to become involved in the creative process of the movies that he works on, even if it happens to be a $150m comic book blockbuster.
Like American History X and Red Dragon before it, The Incredible Hulk was subjected to Norton's interference, with the Academy Award-nominated star refusing to do the promotional rounds after falling out with Marvel over both the final cut of the movie and his contributions to the script.
It might have arrived in theaters just six weeks after Iron Man, but The Incredible Hulk has since been completely ignored by the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and if it wasn't for the recent return of William Hurt's Thaddeus Ross then everything that happened in the movie could be wiped from canon and it wouldn't change a thing about the current makeup of the franchise.
Norton was contracted for a sequel, but a combination of his confrontational behavior and the fact the rights to solo outings for the Hulk still belong to Universal meant that Mark Ruffalo was eventually announced as his replacement, with Bruce Banner now one of the MCU's most integral supporting players.
Had Norton stayed on there's every chance he would have ended up getting fired anyway given that Kevin Feige is the undisputed man in charge of the shared universe, but with the franchise going from strength to strength in the decade since and the plot threads left hanging in The Incredible Hulk never picked up again, it could have signaled an entirely different trajectory for the MCU's future if they'd been determined to keep the big green guy at the forefront.