Released shortly after 2008's Iron Man as the one-two punch that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Incredible Hulk was Edward Norton's one and only outing as Bruce Banner. While the film failed to launch to the same heights of popular success as the first adventure of Tony Stark, it earned a number of fans who were more than excited at the prospects of seeing Norton alongside Robert Downey, Jr. in a future film. Despite Norton's clear passion for the character, behind the scenes issues between him and Marvel led to the latter replacing him with Mark Ruffalo for The Avengers, a decision which ultimately worked out well as many critics and audiences were taken by Ruffalo's performance. Here in 2014, audiences have seen Banner pop up again in last year's Iron Man 3, will see him again in next year's The Avengers: Age of Ultron and will most definitely continue to see him in the role for the foreseeable future. But no matter how quickly and easily the general population took to Ruffalo's Banner, a small handful of people do more than just lament what The Avengers could've looked like with Norton, instead using Norton's recasting as a strike against Marvel. While almost everyone can agree the idea was intriguing and felt like somewhat of a letdown when it happened, Ruffalo was an excellent replacement that helped ease that concern for many people. Six years since Norton's film, grumbling isn't going to change the fact that he, Marvel and nearly the entire movie-going audience have already moved on.
Writer, film enthusiast, part-time gamer and watcher of (mostly) good television located on the fringe of Los Angeles, who now has his own website at www.highdefgeoff.com!
