Edward Norton has chosen his favorite Hulk and it isn’t himself or Mark Ruffalo. Edward Norton played the character in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, but he didn’t stick around for very long. Marvel Studios went ahead and recast the character with Mark Ruffalo, who took over in 2012 in The Avengers. Throughout the years, many comic book fans have debated about who played the better version of Banner on both small and big screen. Norton had this to say about his favorite version of Banner.
“It’s funny (Mark Ruffalo, who replaced Norton in The Avengers) is one of my old friends from New York theater and coming up together. The Hulk is like Hamlet, lots of people have done it. And for us, it’s Bill Bixby (who played Bruce Banner in the 1978 television series), that’s just it. Bill Bixby will always be the best Banner.”
Bill Bixby played Bruce Banner (with Lou Ferrigno playing the Hulk) in the series from the late 1970s and for a lot of Marvel fans, he really was the best. However, a lot has changed in recent years with the Marvel Cinematic Universe explosion. For many, Mark Ruffalo will go down as the best because he has been a part of a number of recent successful projects, including Ragnarok, Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and more. Edward Norton further discussed what it takes to play Bruce Banner. He explains.
“Some actors have more or less plasticity. Some roles have more or less plasticity. Hamlet can be interpreted a lot of different ways, by a lot of different actors… Hulk is Hulk. But Banner has got some play in him. In my opinion only really good people have done it. Bill Bixby, Eric Bana (who preceded Norton in 2003’s Ang Lee-directed Hulk) is a great actor. I have my spin. Mark is one of the best. I love that it’s almost become a tradition.”
Edward Norton seems to have changed his tune with the whole Bruce Banner and Hulk situation. For a long time it seemed that he was pretty sour about the way Marvel Studios treated him. Now, he seems much more relaxed, though he still wishes things would have gone down a little differently. In the world of the MCU, there aren’t many duds, but 2008’s The Incredible Hulk has been deemed just that, along with the second Thor movie.
Marvel Studios has come a long way since 2008 and they are getting bigger and bigger with their releases. Mark Ruffalo is Bruce Banner and Hulk at this point in time, but that could all change in the future. As for when we’ll see him on the big screen next, that is unknown. MCU fans are hoping the actor will make an appearance in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder, but that has yet to be officially confirmed by anyone at Marvel Studios are director Taika Waititi. The interview with Edward Norton was originally conducted by Yahoo.
