Edward Norton Is THE BOURNE LEGACY'S Villain!
Going full-blown baddie for the first time since The Italian Job remake, Edward Norton will be going head-to-head with Jeremy Renner in Universal's continuation of the Bourne film saga.
Having been dropped as Bruce Banner/The Hulk for The Avengers, some might say perhaps as an unfortunate victim of leading a bad film (The Incredible Hulk... but you've probably forgotten), two time Oscar nominated actor Edward Norton has mostly sailed under the radar in the past few years. A few cameo's in the comedy genre have kept some of his days busy including a brief scene for Ricky Gervais in The Invention of Lying and a stint on Modern Family, coupled with a terrible time of things with his two latest starring vehicles Stone and Leaves of Grass failing to even hit U.K. cinema's - Norton suffering the embarrassment of two straight-to-video titles this spring. But it seems Norton is about to make a comeback in a big way with Variety reporting that the Fight Club actor has entered negotiations to play the major villain in The Bourne Legacy - Universal's 4th film in the Robert Ludlum film universe but the first that won't star Matt Damon or even the character of Jason Bourne at all. Instead Norton would be going up against new lead Jeremy Renner, who we now know won't be playing a Treadstone agent but an operative from a different covert government program, one that is even more dangerous than Treadstone. Once again though the plot conceit is our lead trying to discover his real identity having been brainwashed. 
The Bourne Legacy is shaping up great in the acting department with Rachel Weisz previously cast as the love interest and Universal are sure trying to make up for no Matt Damon with plenty of new star power. The excellent Tony Gilroy writes and directs the continuation of the action thriller franchise, he who has hand a big hand in writing all the Bourne movies to date and who also made the brilliant Michael Clayton and the stylish but confusing Duplicity. The Bourne Legacy kicks off filming this September and is due August 2012 and the film keeps ticking all the right boxes... A) Stunning casting, with a great leading man B) A CONTINUATION of a franchise and not a reboot. Plus it nicely leaves the door open if Matt Damon wants to return. C) The perfect writer/director to spearhead this new series. D) A good villain... Norton has always played a better bad guy than a goodie, and we know what he can do as a full-blown evil bastard from his days on The Italian Job remake.