10 Pitched Movies Hollywood Wasn't Ready For

10. A Dark Knight-Inspired, Two-Part MCU Hulk Saga

In a recent interview, Edward Norton revealed that, after signing on for 2008's The Incredible Hulk, he pitched Marvel Studios on a two-part Hulk movie saga inspired by Christopher Nolan's groundbreaking The Dark Knight. Norton said:

"What Chris Nolan had done with Batman was going down a path that I aligned with: long, dark, and serious. If there was ever a thing that I thought had that in it, it was the Hulk. It's literally the Promethean myth. 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. And they were like, 'That's what we want!' As it turned out, that wasn't what they wanted."

While Marvel Studios' reluctance to pull the trigger on further solo Hulk movies is likely more a result of the Norton-starring film turning in mediocre box office returns alongside the solo movie rights being tied up at Universal, it's safe to say that "Dark Knight but Hulk" isn't exactly a pitch that easily takes hold in the brains of Hollywood money-men.

Given the inherent silliness of The Hulk as a character, it's easy to appreciate why the MCU went the direction it did with the character, even if the notion of a dark character study focused less on explosions and more on the duality of Bruce Banner and the Big Green Guy sure does sound intriguing.

Hollywood certainly wasn't having it back in 2008, and honestly, it's tough to imagine this approach ever mustering up the necessary enthusiasm - nor the budget - it'd need to actually get made.