MovieChat Forums > The Incredible Hulk (2008) Discussion > How different would the Incredible Hulk ...

How different would the Incredible Hulk be if Mark Ruffalo was cast as Bruce Banner from the beginning?


https://www.quora.com/How-different-would-the-Incredible-Hulk-be-if-Mark-Ruffalo-was-cast-as-Bruce-Banner-from-the-beginning-instead-of-Edward-Norton

Banner in Thor: Ragnarok is kind of bumbling. Thor flat out tells Banner that he’s not useful on Sakaar and he’d prefer fighting with the Hulk. Ruffalo’s Hulk is just as savage as Norton’s Hulk but Ruffalo’s take on Banner doesn’t have the edge that Norton brought to the table.

In The Incredible Hulk, Norton’s Banner is very active, dodging General Ross, communicating with Mr. Blue remotely, and trying to reconnect with Betty. If Ruffalo was cast, they would probably make him less of a self-reliant character that gets himself out of situations and probably gets out of scuffles either by luck or with the last minute intervention of others.

reply

[deleted]

Not sure.

reply

Ruffalo started acting well only late in his career - back in the day, he was still a rather crappy actor. Edward Norton, on the other hand, has proven himself to be an amazing actor early on - though I'm not sure he's still got it. These 2 actors had very different trajectories.

reply

I feel Norton perfectly captured who Bruce Banner was supposed to be; nerdy, brilliant, but with a chip on his shoulder and a lot of repressed anger issues that results in the Hulk being easily triggered.

Norton's Hulk was the only one of the three incarnations in recent times that actually touched on how the repression of his emotions is part of the problem that results in the Hulk emerging. He actively tries to avoid situations where he could become emotionally volatile.

Mark Ruffalo -- I'm not sure if it was the material given or just how he is as an actor -- NEVER touched on Bruce's anger issues. At most he would become slightly annoyed, and then the Hulk would emerge.

He never seemed to actually be dealing with a lifetime of trauma and anger issues. Ang Lee's depiction of the Hulk had the story centered around why Banner would have a lot of repressed anger, but I don't feel Eric Bana really portrayed that in Banner the way Norton did.

More than anything, I really wanted to see Norton's Hulk in the MCU as opposed to Ruffalo's Hulk in Norton's film. That Quora comment nails the dichotomy between the two depictions perfectly: Norton had an edge to his Banner, and likewise, his Hulk. Ruffalo was a bumbling fool throughout the MCU and was literally for most parts an aloof, goofy, fool. No part of his performance made me think he was a convincing Bruce Banner.

reply

Even though the director originally wanted Mark Ruffalo in the first place to play Bruce Banner, I still liked Edward Norton in the role better. If Marvel insisted on Eddie Norton, it probably means he was more fitting of the character.

I think Ruffalo was fine as Hulk at the start, but over time I don't even know what's going. It's so different and not nearly as good.

Although I would've liked to see the way it played out had Edward Norton stayed with the MCU, I like that this film kind of has a separation from the others, makes it feel more special. Still has plenty of flaws, but I like the point people make that it was before they were making a mockery out of Hulk.

I just wish they had done more with this movie. Edward Norton is a very good actor and I'm a little biased because I specifically really like The Hulk more than most superheroes.

reply

Norton is always great in whatever he does. He’s a great actor.

But I’ve really grown to like how Ruffalo has embodied the character. He’s a likable Banner, and believable as a brilliant scientist.

I even like this sorta hybrid version of Banner seemingly half transitioned to the Hulk as seen in the last few Marvel projects. What’s that about? Has that ever been explained?

reply

I'm sure it's been explained, but I don't really know or care. A lot of people didn't like the whole "Professor Hulk" shtick, and I agree that it didn't work. Whatever their reasons are, compare it to this version of The Hulk.... well, it's bad either way but pales in comparison. Granted, I didn't even see those movies, but that's because I was disappointed in the direction they went.

I think Mark Ruffalo did a pretty good job of embodying Bruce Banner in the early stages, but after Avengers: Age of Ultron, something seemed to change. It seemed to be more comical, and I liked The Hulk as more serious.

reply

The professor/Hulk hybrid thing kinda worked in the last 2 Avengers movies. He had to work (scientifically) with Stark a lot….and you couldn’t really have him being dead serious, juxtaposed with Stark’s sarcasm and wit.

Banner/Hulk was still the straight man to Stark, but with just enough humor to make it all work.

I’m surprised more people didn’t have a problem with Hulk getting his ass handed to him in Infinity War. But I guess that scene was necessary…to show us just how powerful Thanos really was.

reply

There are actually a lot of people that didn't like Hulk getting taken out too easily by Thanos I believe. Lotta fans say that Norton's Hulk would've been far more powerful.

reply

Yeah this movie was kind of weird, insofar that it felt very... transitiony? Like it was halfway between being its own movie and just partly dipping its toe into establishing the MCU.

If it had had its own identity like Ang Lee's film, I think it could have been better. And also if it were just structured better. You could tell they wanted action scenes in the film but how they put them in was kind of... bleh. I think only the opening chase scene in Brazil really made the most sense and the final showdown with Abomination. The rest of the middle seemed to meander quite a bit.


I still liked Edward Norton in the role better. If Marvel insisted on Eddie Norton, it probably means he was more fitting of the character.


Edward Norton reminded me a lot of the way Bruce was portrayed in the animated cartoon from the 1990s. The first season of that was brilliant and basically captured a lot of the traumas/emotional issues that Banner suffered from in the 2008 flick, and Norton did a great job of portraying that struggle on-screen.

reply

I agree that it was held back by the MCU, not by itself and could've been better with more potential given.

reply

Personally I think Norton does a better job than what they have Ruffalo doing with the character.

reply