Ed Norton Ousted from Hulk Job In Nasty Online Back-and-Forth
Couldn't have just said, "We're going another direction," eh?
Photo: Universal Pictures
On Saturday I posted the recent news (via HitFix) Marvel had decided they were going to cast 'an unknown' to play Bruce Banner and The Hulk in the upcoming superhero ensemble feature The Avengers as opposed to bringing Edward Norton back to reprise the role he played in 2008's The Incredible Hulk. In the post I asked readers what they thought of the decision and already 868 people have voted with 777 of you (89%) saying "yes" you want Norton back in the role to maintain franchise continuity. Well, it looks like the 91 people that either voted "no" or that they didn't care won out.
HitFix's Drew McWeeny has been all over the story and received updates from both Marvel Studios' President of Production Kevin Feige (read here) as well as Edward Norton's agent, Brian Swardstrom of WME (read here). I will start with Feige's email as forwarded to McWeeny and we'll go from there"
"We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in the Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts. We are looking to announce a name actor who fulfills these requirements, and is passionate about the iconic role in the coming weeks."
A friend sent that above statement to me late last night and in his email he wrote, "Marvel was passing on Norton, okay. But look at the WAY they're passing. It's a big FUCK YOU to Norton." It seems Norton's agent felt the exact same way, but Swardstrom was a little more verbose… Have a look:
"This offensive statement from Kevin Feige at Marvel is a purposefully misleading, inappropriate attempt to paint our client in a negative light. Here are the facts: two months ago, Kevin called me and said he wanted Edward to reprise the role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers. He told me it would be his fantasy to bring Edward on stage with the rest of the cast at ComiCon and make it the event of the convention. When I said that Edward was definitely open to this idea, Kevin was very excited and we agreed that Edward should meet with Joss Whedon to discuss the project. Edward and Joss had a very good meeting (confirmed by Feige to me) at which Edward said he was enthusiastic at the prospect of being a part of the ensemble cast. Marvel subsequently made him a financial offer to be in the film and both sides started negotiating in good faith. This past Wednesday, after several weeks of civil, uncontentious discussions, but before we had come to terms on a deal, a representative from Marvel called to say they had decided to go in another direction with the part. This seemed to us to be a financial decision but, whatever the case, it is completely their prerogative, and we accepted their decision with no hard feelings.
We know a lot of fans have voiced their public disappointment with this result, but this is no excuse for Feige's mean spirited, accusatory comments. Counter to what Kevin implies here, Edward was looking forward to the opportunity to work with Joss and the other actors in the Avengers cast, many of whom are personal friends of his. Feige's statement is unprofessional, disingenuous and clearly defamatory. Mr. Norton talent, tireless work ethic and professional integrity deserve more respect, and so do Marvel's fans.
Brian Swardstrom
WME"
The Avengers will be directed by Joss Whedon (Serenity) and it sounds like the Comic Con crowd may get the first introduction to the complete cast on July 24th in San Diego. Right now Feige and "special guests" are set to present Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America to the Comic Con crowd that night at 6 PM and it would make for a perfect opportunity to reveal the rest of the Avengers cast as well. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Norton will be on stage with the likes of Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Captain America), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow) and/or whomever else is invited to attend.
The Avengers is already set to be released on May 4, 2012 with production expected to begin sometime early next year. I did a massive update on the Avengers film status following Comic Con last year (read that here) and at the time Feige was quoted by Collider when asked if Norton would be in the film and he said, "I think he will be [in it], absolutely." My, what a difference a year makes.
Of course, there were always reports of tension between Norton and Marvel prior to the release of Hulk, which Norton did virtually zero publicity for all while releasing a statement disputing all the nasty rumors.
Any of you have any thoughts on the matter?
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I think Edward is a tremendous actor – among the best of the past 15 years -, but there have been several reports about his "difficult" personality, especially, as Brad pointed out, during the Incredible Hulk time. I'm not that surprised by the decision of the studio, but the way they handled it, this statement, was VERY rude.
(I wonder if anyone else enjoyed Ang Lee's Hulk more than the second movie)
This just sucks. Marvel is a disastrous company. They fight with everybody. They fought with Sam Jackson, Ed Norton, Mickey Rourke and Terrence Howard over money and ended up screwing over Norton, Howard and even Olivia Munn by not giving her the screen time she was promised. Marvel doesn't deserve our ticket money.
I'd like for you guys to see this!!
Its a musical parody of Marvel's continuity:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyPh8aIdR-4
Great video! Is this the beginning of the end for spaghetti comic book adaptations?
Frankly I kind of hope so. I'm getting tired of movies that are just glorified comic-books. If comic books are to the first decade of the new millenium what westerns were to the 1960's then maybe we could be heading back into another great age of cinema :)
My thought is that Marvel are idiotic douchebags. And I would say more but it's 4 a.m. here and I kind of feel like going to sleep, but the primary opinion is here.
BIG MISTAKE Norton made the Hulk movie good. hes a great actor and i dont understand why he isnt being brought back
Hey Edward,
screw Marvel, go be the Riddler in the next Batman. That will show em'
Just imagine the epicness of Samuel Jackson, Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr., Ed Norton and William Hurt and Chris Evans all in the same "Avengers" scene. That's not going to happen anymore… Fuck you marvel.
That's a shame. I'm finding it more and more difficult to muster enthusiasm for the mythical Avengers. *yawn*
Remember that time good ol'Eddy locked director Tony Kaye out of the editing room so he could recut American History X to give his Derek character more screen time?
I would have never hired him in the first place, especially since Marvel was planning a franchise.
That wasn't Norton's decision to make, it was the studios who did not like what Tony Kaye was doing with his cut, as during editing he decided he want to do something different then what was originally planned. Kaye himself has been a mess of controversy and is said to have a difficult personality.
Plus the fact that the film turned out to be a classic, which indicates that maybe Norton was right. And, looking at the stuff that got deleted from his take on The Incredible Hulk (a suicide attempt and some wonderful character moments) that would have made it a much better film, I'm not afraid to say that he's right here too.
Louis Leterrier's film was meant to be far more faithful to the character of the Hulk. Then Marvel wanted a popcorn flick, and wanted to edit it down to make it wham bam! That was not what Norton signed up for. He had a little spat, and then when people stopped talking, at least when MArvel stopped talking to him, he went legal.
wow im not watching the avengers now, how is norton difficult and RDJ not ? RDJ is as polarizing and opinionated as they come, first terrance howard and now this, its all left a sour taste in my mouth, i dont care for marvel movies anymore, norton is one of my most favorites actor ever!!! hence my username lol.
Edward Norton proved he could do anything after his intense performance in "American History X." I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be good in "The Avengers."
It's better to move on then to disrupt chemistry. Ed Norton may to to hollywood what Terrell Owens is to the NFL. Great talent but not worth the grief.
I like Edward Norton in general, but it's not like he electrified "The Incredible Hulk" with his performance, so it's not as if he isn't replaceable.
More to the point, I don't know how you can fight with the people paying you, refuse to do publicity for the movie you were hired to headline, and then be shocked that they're not that interested in hiring you again… Especially when it takes "several weeks" of negotiation when they expressed a desire to have the casting finished by a set date that is rapidly approaching.
I would also suspect that McWeeny's source in writing the piece that stirred up fandom to demand that Norton was included was from Norton's own camp, which would shade the whole "we accepted their decision with no hard feelings" bit of that reply. I've got nothing to back that speculation up with, however, aside from the fact that Marvel wouldn't have leaked the news before they had another name to soothe the fan's ire.
Don't hate the player, hate the game or should I say coach. In this case that'd be the director… Ed DID perform to his best, it was just the direction of that so called of a director Louis Le-whatever. Didn't he make that lame attempt at Clash of the Titans too? Yeah, thought so…
Edward Norton fights with all of his coaches, it would seem. He fought with Fincher on Fight Club (though they made up by the end of filming), Frank Oz called the shooting of The Score "contentuous", he made The Italian Job only because he was contractually obligated to do a film for that studio, the director of American History X accused him of leveraging his way into the editing process in order to provide a cut with a larger role for himself, Harvey Keitel is said to have walked off of the set of Red Dragon because of the friction between Norton and the director on that project, there's all the stuff with the The Incredible Hulk above. The list goes on and on for anyone with access to Google.
The end result I get from all of that is an image of Norton as an Artis and perfectionist who goes into projects with strong opinions of what they should be, which is good. However, all of his attempts to take control through rewrites or bullying directors and producers into going his way makes him sound like a chore to work with and an absolute nightmare on a project that is the intersection of multiple franchises, each with their own lead stars. They can't all come in with their own directions and fight for them… You'd need a cast willing to trust in the director and producers and focus solely on doing the job they were hired to do. You also need a cast that isn't going to turn on the production and refuse to support it if it's not exactly what they want it to be.
No offence AJ, but Brando was the main problem on that film. For example, he kept referring to Frank OZ(voice of Yoda, Ms Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and a number of other puppets and characters) as "Ms Piggy". Brando then went on to insist that he be shot from the waist up for certain scenes. To ensure this happening, he refused to wear pants. He subsequently got the flu, and had to pull out of filming a part in Scary Movie 2. There were problems filming the movie, but Norton was not the problem.
One also has to question his luck with directors. Brett Ratner is a hack, as is Louis Leterrier. Look at the quality of their other projects, and many people would agree. If he had serious questions about those projects, then he had a right to ask them, considering. I am sure he had questions about Fight Club, but when the final film came out, I am sure he realised he was wrong to question Fincher after the film was finished, but he had just come off of American History X, so his last experience with his director may have still weighed heavily.
To be quite honest, the way Feige put out that statement about Norton, you would swear Edward had pulled a Lindsay Lohan, partying all night and showing up late, if at all.
He was nowhere near that unprofessional. He did not want to promote a film he did not believe in.
Instead he wanted to make a more interesting film rather than a traditional pop corn flick. Iron Man went that route and was successful, so did The Dark Knight, and it was successful too. The guy was right. The film we got was nowhere near as strong as it could have been.
@ Sean C: The "contentious" bit came from a 2001 GQ article written about Norton and his reputation for being troublesome where they asked Oz to comment. For the record, Oz did say that welcomed Norton's "tremendous involvement" in his character's development, but that despite everything there was only "one madman at the helm" (meaning Oz). Brando may have been the main problem, but I'm thinking he wasn't the only one.
As for his interactions with Marvel, from what I've read he brought a suit against them to demand final cut of "The Incredible Hulk" that nearly prevented the release of the film and flat out told them that he wouldn't promote it unless they gave him that final say. You can call that many things, but "collaborative" it isn't… and I certainly can't blame people who went through all that once that securing his involvement as a small part of an ensemble wasn't really worth risking that kind of creative fallout again.
If he wanted to make something other than a popcorn flick that's fine.
But why the hell then attach himself to The Incredible Hulk, something he knew was going to be part of a larger film series plan leading to The Avengers?
These movies are NEVER going to be anything BUT standard popcorn flicks (Iron Man 1 and 2 have certainly borne this out and so far information on 2011's components suggest the same) that were going to stylistically and tonally conform to each other because of the single universe they are going to share.
Individuality is NOT an option for The Avengers plan. Nor their component films.
If he didn't want to enter that kind of environment he was kidding himself when he signed up for it.
Replacing Edward Norton is stupid. That statement is extremely offensive, he couldn't handle being with an ensemble cast? Is it because his acting ability would outshine everybody's except for Robert Downey Jr.?
If Captain America tanks this whole movie will probably be screwed anyway.
I suppose they will replace him with…Eric Bana? Now that would be really awful…
Edward Norton being a part of the film is one thing, but it is not being discussed here.
What is being discussed, is the rude, and arrogant manner with which Marvel announced Norton's non-involvement with the Avengers film.
The statement seems to imply that he cannot work in a team, yet he can clearly work in a team, as evidenced in his prior projects. He has even chosen certain projects, that movie he did with DeNiro and Brando, for example, he chose simply because he wanted to work with DeNiro and Brando.
The few times he has not liked working with a team was actually down to the script, and that was the remake of the Italian Job.
I also must question Feige's assertion that Chris Evans and Chris Helmsworth work better when part of a team. Chris Helmsworth's notable work is incredibly limited, with only Star Trek known to American audiences. Chris Evans, on the other hand, has two comic book properties to his name, Fantastic Four, it's sequel, and The Losers, and both films have been incredibly poor. His other work is anything but exceptional, from what I have seen.
One must also remember that Chris H's film, Thor, has yet to be released, as it is in post production, and Chris E's film, Captain America, has not even begun production. It is still in the pre production phase. How can Kevin Feige assess their performances when these films have not even been released, or made. It makes me question the level of intelligence that currently resides at MArvel.
Feige is quickly becoming the new Michael Eisner. A studio head who wears his emotions on his sleeve and tries to assert control through manipulation and intimidation. I think he is seriously overestimating his product. Iron Man was really good and The Incredible Hulk was a big improvement over Ang Lee's Hulk. Buuutttt IM2 blew chunks and what are the chances Thor and Captain America are any better. Think about it, what has Branaugh directed that inspires confidence he can pull any comic book adaption off, let alone Thor. Frankenstein? Henry V? Thor ain't Shakespeare. Joe Johnston…nuff said. Karma is a mf and Feige is on the fast track to heading up an indie studio based out of Detroit.
i totally agree with you, they're acting like all the forthcoming marvel movies are going to be a sure shot hit, they're still riding high from the success of ironman even though its sequel failed miserably, there are very few directors in the movie business that command such respect as chris nolan, cameron, etc, i dont think any of these directors connected with marvel movies come even close, if these movies tank they're gonna feel really really stupid about going out and insulting some incredibly talented actors.
I have to disagree with the Iron Man sequel being a failure… It has actually made MORE money than the first one. Even though some and I personally like the first one better, the second one did better in numbers.
Yep, they shouldn't presume they have a string of future hits on their hands, nor should they assume that this is a glorious master project that is in anyway immune from critical or box-office failure.
@Tommy – it depends. If one believes the figures available IM2 cost $60 million more to produce and has so far made only about $30 million more globally than the first.
That doesn't suggest it really made any more overall. It would seem to have done a little worse once promotion costs etc are factored in.
I like Edward Norton. I thought he made a great Bruce Banner. But the whole "will he or won't he" stuff was getting old, and in the end Marvel played hardball. This was a warning shot to every other actor…Evans, Hemsworth, and every other actor in the Marvel family who think they can play cute with their frachises. After years of having other studios dump on their characters, they are sticking to their guns.
I mean, this is the AVENGERS, for crying out loud. Four (!) established movie franchises will be involved, not to mention any that get launched by the movie itself (like Ant-Man possibly), so there is no margin of error here, and Edward Norton just got too pushy.
I mean, consider the facts that he didn't promote the Hulk when it came out, he complained about the making of the film, and he was the only member of the cast NOT to want to sign a multipicture deal.
Edward Norton wanted his cake and eat it too. Marvel said its THEIR cake and told Edward to go eat something else.
Very well said, Chance. However, I think people with Norton's talent and influence have the right to complain when their films turn out like crap (The Incredible Hulk. Sorry, fans.). But still, I am disappointed. I like continuity, and I like Norton. I'll probably be watching the new actor, sneering at his inability to take it to Norton's level.
There so many expletive deletive things I want to say right now… This is just nuts… No Edward? Are you kidding me? Saying "other talented cast members"? As if Mr. Norton ISN'T talented? Oh come on, please. He is probably one of the most, if not THE most talented of the bunch. It's no wonder Disney owns Marvel.
First of all… FUCK DISNEY FOR OWNING MARVEL (LET ALONE THE JIM HENSON LEGACY). SECOND.. ED NORTON IS A GREAT ACTOR AND DOES DESERVE THE ResPECT OF SOMEONE WHO HAS PROVEN HIMSELF AGAIN AND AGAIN. I THINK THAT MARVEL NEEDS TO SUCK IT UP BIGTIME AND GET OVER IT, NORTON HAS PLAYED IN BIG ENSEMBLE MOVIES BEFORE (ITALIAN JOB) HE HAS ACTED WITH BOTH DeNIRO & BRANDO in the same movie no less and held his own and made it a box office success.. AND HIS HULK BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF WHAT BANA MADE OF HIS VERSION ON SCREEN… LET THE CARDS FALL WHERE THEY MAY BUT ANYONE THEY EVEN AUDITION WILL BE COMPARED TO HIS HISTORY OF ACTING.. THAT"S A VERY HARD THING TO LIVE UP TO..
Not a big deal. Ed Norton is too talented to be tied into any franchise.
Been hearing rumors that Joaquin Pheonix might be in line to play the Hulk. If this is true, it would be a fine replacement for Norton.
Don't make me laugh…
Considering he now lives in loony ville, I think it would be a disastrous replacement.
Like hiring Tom Cruise in overblown Scientology mode.
wow !!!! definitely NOT seeing this movie anymore. how could they do that to Edward? reasonable question i would ask. The man has talent , he wants to play the part, and fits the part very well i might add. I can see other actors dropping out because of this.
Edward Norton has posted a truly classy statement on his facebook page about the whole thing, which deserves to be included in the discussion. I'm not sure of the etiquette of providing the link here or not, but I'd suggest those interested seek it out.
Yeah, his statement was really classy. Very well said.
Marvel could take a leaf from his book.
It just proves my theory.. marvel comics are for drunk frat boys and nerdy underdeveloped teenage boys, the only serious character they have in the whole company is wolverine… When you can find everything you need in a Batman book or movie (even the dumb movies)