Edward Norton Explains (Again) Why He Walked Away From the Hulk and 'Avengers' Movies
Norton, sitting on the ‘Birdman’ panel, at New York Comic Con, Oct. 10, 2014
If the Internet seems super-slow today, that’s because everyone is watching (and rewatching) that awesome, just-released Avengers: Age of Ultron teaser. The one person who likely hasn’t bothered watching Tony Stark don his patented Hulkbuster armor to combat a rampaging Bruce Banner is former Hulk, Ed Norton.
Back in 2008, the actor famously clashed with Marvel Studios about the creative direction of The Incredible Hulk, a movie that he had rewritten after coming aboard as the star, only to see a lot of his work tossed out in the editing room. Though both sides put on a friendly face for the film’s theatrical release, nobody was especially surprised when Norton wound up not joining The Avengers, with Mark Ruffalo inheriting the role in his place. “It seems it won’t work out for me to continue playing Bruce Banner for Marvel,” he wrote in a 2010 Facebook post. “But I am very sincerely grateful to Marvel for extending the offer and even more so for giving me the chance to be a part of the Hulk’s long and excellent history.”
In a new interview with the NPR chat show Fresh Air, though, the co-star of the acclaimed Oscar contender Birdman — which, in many ways, is an elaborate superhero parody — suggests that his one-shot turn as the Hulk was more a case of him walking away, than not being asked back. “My feeling was that I experimented and experienced what I wanted to. I really, really enjoyed it. And yet, I looked at the balance of time in life that one spends not only making those sorts of films but then especially putting them out, and the obligations that rightly come with that.” Norton also suggested that he wanted to avoid the typecasting that can accompany prolonged stints in a comic book universe, saying “I think you can sort of do anything once, but if you do it too many times, it can become a suit that’s hard to take off, in other peoples’ eyes.” (Of course, as The Hollywood Reporter notes, it’s not like Ruffalo has been restricted from pursuing non-Hulk roles in movies like Foxcatcher and Begin Again.)
Related: Watch Michael Keaton and Edward Norton Face Off in an Exclusive Clip From ‘Birdman’
Since giving up Hulk’s purple shorts, Norton has appeared in such diverse films as Moonrise Kingdom, Stone and, of course, Birdman, so it sounds like he’s gotten his wish to play more varied roles. And unlike past superhero switches (think Val Kilmer and George Clooney as Batman #3 and #4, respectively), comic book fans have taken to Ruffalo in a big way. It looks like a case where everybody wins. Except, of course, Ultron. At least, we think so…
Photo credits: Universal Pictures, Getty Images
