Why the MCU shouldn’t have discarded Edward Norton’s take on Hulk

2008 Incredible Hulk It never failed.that Recover more than your budgetand it scored metacritic assessment As such, it fits comfortably in the “not good, but not bad” category. However, it was quickly discarded from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Edward Norton’s interpretation of Marvel’s Green Mean Machine was withdrawn, and Mark Ruffalo took his place with a completely different interpretation of the Hulk.Mostly Incredible Hulk In the 2012 film, it was reduced to a cameo that you might miss in a blink of an eye. the avengers.

Around 2021, however, the Norton movies became important again, as Disney began reassembling elements of the film back into MCU continuity. It started with Tim Roth making a cameo appearance as Emile Blonsky, aka Abomination. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and later guest appearances She-Hulk: Lawyer.

Establishing a stronger connection between early and later takes on the MCU Hulk felt especially important She-Hulk, The series seemed to put an end to Bruce Banner’s story and hand over the torch to his cousin. After a slew of movies where Ruffalo’s character was just Banner, just Hulk, and Professor Hulk (a hybrid with Bruce’s spirit inhabiting Hulk’s body), Avengers/Endgame), I felt that the character’s potential was maximized. So it made sense to clear the stage for the all-new Hulk.Not just a feminine interpretation of the character, but also a more comedic side: comic books She-Hulk It was basically the original Deadpool and included a fourth wall breaking joke.

But the potential for an MCU Hulk has never dried up. There’s a lot that Marvel’s blockbuster writers haven’t done with him yet.and the foundation was already laid Incredible Hulk.

There are two notable things that later Marvel films failed to port over from Ed Norton’s films. The first is Tim Blake Nelson, who begins transforming into classic Hulk villain The Leader at the end of the film. When the MCU dropped that idea, audiences missed out on cool characters with boundless intelligence and vanity, plus telekinesis and immortality. Besides, it should be a felony to make fun of Tim Blake Nelson in the film any longer without getting it done. The second thing we lost was the feral, animalistic Hulk who we can’t talk to or control. This Hulk is a scarier and more exciting version of the character that is much closer to the comic’s original radioactive Hulk. Werewolf.

Hulk’s stakes are higher from the first seconds Incredible Hulk, Here, Norton appears as Bruce Banner testing a cure for gamma ray poisoning, which triggers his transformation. We see how he hurts those around him. Among them is his girlfriend Betty (Liv Tyler), who she sees as a hideous monster who has nothing to do with Bruce.

Director Louis Leterrier does all this without dialogue, only with images. This increases the intensity and takes the scene directly to the gray matter lizard portion of the audience, where it is treated in the same way as a horror movie.that’s really the crux Incredible Hulk Very great. This isn’t really a horror movie, but it’s horror, or bordering on horror, in many parts, including the interpretation of the characters in the title.

Going this route, Leterrier did some particularly memorable things to Hulk that gave the character more depth. For example, Norton plays a clearly exhausted, terrified, and traumatized Bruce each time this version of Bruce reverts to human form. When Betty checks into Bruce and the motel after the fight at Culver College, the figure, who was shaking off a bullet the size of a thermos, turned into a shivering mess covered in blankets. He can’t speak, he can barely move, and when he manages to take a shower, he begins to relive the trauma of being gunned down without control over himself. After so many Marvel movies in which superheroes face off against cosmic demons, goddesses of death, and cosmic mighty aliens, gun-fearing characters seem almost archaic. But it’s not weird, it’s human. Ed Norton’s Hulk is refreshing and human.

Photo: Universal Pictures/Marvel Enterprises

Compare that scene to the first time Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) transforms into the Hulk. the avengers, Falling to Earth and turning back into a human, he soon begins joking with the guards. It’s not that focusing on trauma is better than comic relief. Both are valid interpretations of the Hulk that are backed up by comic iterations. And there’s no denying Mark Ruffalo’s performance was a hit with audiences and helped make the Hulk an A-list superhero. But despite how Ruffalo’s Bruce is afraid of “other men,” his version of the Hulk is still a hero, suddenly in control whenever he needs a beat of action. A person who looks like Ed Norton’s Hulk is different.

The 2008 film makes that point many times, most notably shortly after the Battle of Culver College, when the Hulk kidnaps an unconscious Betty and hides them under rocks exposed from the rain. Scene. When she wakes up, she sees him and cries. Hulk is then seen screaming into the storm and throwing stones at it. This Hulk isn’t a superhero, he’s a powerful animal. He is basically a giant ape with some sentience, but ultimately acts on his animal instincts. That’s why Norton’s banner isn’t going to change when it comes to this character’s final showdown with Abomination, and hopefully the Hulk chooses to be noble and save the day. Instead, he “aims” the green monster at the other, praying desperately not to hurt innocent people in the process.

The strange thing is that the avengers At first, it seemed like there would be a wild, dangerous, Ruffalo-Hulk-like Hulk who couldn’t tell friend from foe. But later in the same film, co-writers Joss Whedon and Zak Penn try to curb his wildness, understand human language, wait for Captain America’s instructions to smash things, and iron. It is turning into a popular Hulk who saves where Mann was about to fall. Sky. Again, nothing wrong with that take. However, there is a clear disconnect between Hulk at the beginning and end of the film, with no apparent reason for the change.

Image: Universal Pictures/Marvel Enterprises

So why not fix it? What if the MCU went back to that version of the character? Here’s a glimpse of it Avengers: Age of Ultron, It’s when the Scarlet Witch messes with Hulk’s mind, but the more dangerous and less urban Hulk – the Hulk who can’t really be called an Avenger because he doesn’t have enough heart to agree to participate – has more. There is a possibility of the story of of the team. Being the Hulk, presumably “contained” and targeting foes the Avengers can’t deal with, raises a major ethical question that the MCU may consider from time to time.

All these are still viable. Professor Hulk doesn’t have to be his MCU character’s last word. A hundred different things could happen to further explore the Hulk as a wild killing machine. If Marvel and Disney really wanted it. They probably won’t because he’s more marketable as a superhero. But that option is still on the table, just waiting for someone to pick it up and what to do next. Incredible Hulk It started 15 years ago.