‘Avengers: Endgame’ Image Proves Edward Norton As Smart Hulk Wouldn’t Work

What if Edward Norton played Professor Hulk in Avengers: Endgame? It… Would be creepy, it seems.

Edward Norton was originally cast as Bruce Banner (a.k.a. the Hulk) in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, and he was expected to return for The Avengers. Edward Norton played the superhero only one time before he and Marvel split ways. The role was recast with Mark Ruffalo, who has handled all other appearances of Bruce Banner and the Hulk (The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, alongside a single-scene cameo in Iron Man 3) since The Incredible Hulk. While Edward Norton’s movie is still canonical to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel chose to prioritize the character over the actor portraying him.

A Reddit user imagined what things would be like had Edward Norton not parted ways with Marvel, presuming that his character design for the Hulk was pretty much constant with the design used in The Incredible Hulk. Since Bruce Banner and Hulk worked things out with each other after the timeskip, Edward Norton would have appeared in mo-cap gear and his likeness would have been used to bring Professor Hulk to life, so the Redditor took a crack at imagining what it would look like… And was weirded out by the resulting image. The Professor Hulk persona that Edward Norton might have portrayed may have been creepy rather than endearing:

So… Yeah. The Reddit user seems to be right. It really wouldn’t have worked if they stuck with Edward Norton. Perhaps it’s for the best that not every partnership works out, since Mark Ruffalo’s take on the character ended up being way more popular, much like how Don Cheadle’s James Rhodes/War Machine is more popular than Terrence Howard’s. Thankfully, they worked out those changes two movies into the MCU rather than late into the setting.

Here is the official synopsis for Avengers: Endgame:

The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios’ grand conclusion to twenty-two films, Avengers: Endgame.

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Benedict Wong, Jon Favreau, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Josh Brolin.

Avengers: Endgame is now available on Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD.

Source: Reddit