It’s been almost 17 years since the MCU’s version of Bruce Banner was officially recast, and fans still can’t move past it.
The Incredible Hulk, the second film in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, was a wildly different take on the Hulk– at least in comparison to the version of the character we have now.
Bruce Banner wasn’t the comical, lighthearted goofball he is now, but was instead a much more intense, tortured man.
Now part of this change in character stems from his character development over the course of the MCU, because the version of Bruce Banner we saw in 2012’s The Avengers was a lot darker than the Bruce Banner we have now.
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However, a lot of MCU fans have theorised that this change in characterisation doesn’t actually stem from said character development, but rather from his change in actor.
In a Reddit thread over on r/comicbookmovies, MCU fans lamented the version of the Marvel films we could had if Edward Norton had remained in the role instead of being replaced by Mark Ruffalo.
“Gravitas,” commented user Deadocmike1, “Ruffalo has been a joke. Norton would have added so much.”
“I like the idea of Norton's Bruce as a dissenter - the avenger whose power is almost unilaterally a curse and frequently out of control, so he'd be asking the team each time if it's really the avengers' place to intervene in global issues so much,” replied user -NinjaTurtleHermit-.
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“Norton would have KNOCKED THAT OUT OF THE PARK. It wouldn't even have to be a major element of the movie. Give him 90 - 120 seconds spread throughout the runtime.”
Ultimately, I think even if Norton wouldn’t have immediately been recast, I doubt the actor would have remained a part of the franchise past the third phase.
But hey, there’s always a chance we might still see him pop back up in the future. Like in say… Avengers: Doomsday?