Mark Ruffalo Cast as The Hulk In 'The Avengers' Movie
Joss Whedon confirmed as director
Early Friday The Wrap's Sharon Waxmon had a report Mark Ruffalo was nearing a deal to play Bruce Banner (aka The Hulk) in Paramount's The Avengers. It was a casting rumor first reported about nine days ago and tonight it appears the deal has happened just in time for a big San Diego Comic Con announcement tomorrow.
Tonight Nikki Finke at Deadline reports the "ink is drying on the deal reached by Brillstein Entertainment Partners with Marvel" and Ruffalo will play the Marvel comic book superhero in the ensemble feature The Avengers. Of course, this means stepping into a role last played by Edward Norton after a highly publicized ousting of the most recent actor to play the big green monster.
Expectation now is for Ruffalo to be the "surprise" announcement tomorrow night at 6:00-7:00 PM PST at Comic Con when Marvel and Paramount will present Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger to the convention-going crowd of 6,500 strong.
This, however, isn't the only news circling the feature as it was confirmed on Thursday that Joss Whedon (Serenity) will indeed direct the film bringing together Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans) and other heroes form Marvel's first supergroup, The Avengers. Whedon was originally brought aboard to do a rewrite on Zak Penn's script, but it has always been assumed he would also be the one at the helm.
The news also continues to spew forth as Whedon has now confirmed Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) will star as Clint "Hawkeye" Barton in the film in the video interview you see to the right with OntheRedCarpet.com.
Hawkeye is apparently an orphan with a talent for archery that after seeing Iron Man save the lives of some people at the carnival, decided to become a costumed crime-fighter himself. He was mistaken as a criminal, however, and hunted down. He soon hoped to join Iron Man's team of Avengers and as a way of proving himself, he broke into the Avengers Mansion and convinced their butler, Jarvis, to play the role of a victim so he could display his powers. Iron Man vouched for Hawkeye, and he joined the new line-up that included Captain America, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. For more of his story from Marvel.com click here.
Now I guess we're simply left to wonder where the story will go. It's been rumored Hulk will serve as the film's villain, but I can only wonder if they'll play off the Universal ending to Incredible Hulk or if they will work some magic with the upcoming releases of Thor and Captain America to allude to where the story may take us.
For now it's expected Ruffalo and Renner will be joined by Downey Jr., Hemsworth and Evans for The Avengers as well as Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow. The rest is pretty much up in the air.
The Avengers is currently set for a May 4, 2012 release, and will be preceded by Thor on May 6, 2011 and Captain America on July 22, 2011. One thing I think we can be certain on, Warner Bros. will be looking at this closely as they at one time were trying to get a Justice League film off the ground. I just wonder if it is at all possible for the WB to successfully restart the Superman franchise and then somehow convince Christian Bale to come back as Batman for an ensemble film. Would it take Christopher Nolan coming back for such a thing to happen?
Rumors continue to persist saying his brother Jonah Nolan is the frontrunner to direct the Superman reboot (currently rumored to be titled Superman: Man of Steel), a film Chris is serving as overseer on and David Goyer is working on the script. Oh, wouldn't it be just glorious to see WB look at Paramount's big superhero movie and do their best to one-up them?
Then again, with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight in the bag and the growing expectations concerning Batman 3, my guess is Nolan himself is done with Batman once the third film is completed. Though his influence is likely to remain.
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This is dumb. They keep on recasting for the Hulk. I have no problem with Mr. Mark R. but this is too much 1st they had Bana then they hired Norton who actually knows how to act and now Mr. Ruffalo. Too much! I will watch it on DVD. I am done with the Hulk Franchise. They will not get my money.
I agree, Edward Norton was Hulk. Changing this casting was retarted. What's next? Maria Bello replacing Rachael Weisz in Mummy 3? Oh wait…
Mummy 3 was written well but too bad Weisz did not come back. I guess she thought she's too good for that role.
I agree because the latest hulk film was great because of Edward Norton. It is pointless for them to recast each movie. Lets hopw Ruffalo can pull it off.
DUDE I KNOW
THIS is to match,they shuold have kept norton as the hulk he was good and now to bring a new one will be confusing to the crowd and not relate…
I have never really been interested in this film, and am less so now. I don't understand the point of casting a couple of A-listers then a few actors that few have heard of. Surely to make a movie like this work with 6 superheros is to have 4-5 of them as A-list actors, but only having RDJ and Scarlett does it mean that those two characters will get more screentime?
I'd be irritated if Norton's film had been any chop, but it was a massive turd. And I actually prefer Ruffalo as an actor anyway.
Renner news is welcome.
Nolan has claimed that he's "ending" his Batman story with the third installment, so I'm thinking a Justice League film with Christian Bale is out of the question. I wouldn't want DC to simply follow the same model as Marvel though – they should be focusing on making individual films that are successful, rather than parts of a larger cog. Nolan specifically didn't hold anything back for future installments in TDK, and it payed dividends.
I'd argue that not holding back weakened The Dark Knight, as the Two Face subplot felt rushed and silly… It would have been far better to push Dent's turn off into a sequel to give it room to breathe.
I can't remember where I read it, but recently Nolan stated that his versions of Batman and Superman do not coexist in the same universe. He only sees their concepts working in worlds where they are the only superheroes… So there would be no World's Finest or Justice League/Super Friends team ups.
Of course, that doesn't mean that WB wouldn't form a Justice League without Batman and Superman, or wait until Nolan is finished with Batman.
Except that the Two Face subplot isn't rushed or "silly" at all. It takes place over the course of the entire film. Just because he gets transformed late in the game doesn't mean that the "Two Face" story begins there. It's the centerpiece of the whole film, which is why the final scene revolves around it. Just because he doesn't become a grand "Batman villain" doesn't mean it's any less effective.
Two-Face himself spends 20 minutes and then dies. A total epic disaster for the character. One of "Batmans greatest villians" hardly counts when he kills like 5 people and then dies, more like "Batman's false hope" taken down. And people said the Venom thing in Spider-Man 3 was bad. It was almost the same thing, yet how one is acceptable and the other is beyond me.
i don't really think it's the same thing. they presented the characters differently. not to mention that the venom character was horribly broken, where as harvey dent was well flushed out by the time he became two face.
Two-Face himself spends 20 minutes and then dies.
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Errr, most people are not 100% certain he died. The fact that Eckhardt himself has said he is open to returning for the thrid movie pretty much proves it is an option.
I like Mark Ruffalo. He is a good actor, good in Shutter Island, good in The Kids Are All Right. But, Edward Nolan owned the role of Bruce Banner.
Nothing against Ruffalo, he's a solid actor, but I just don't think he'll be half as good as Norton's Banner/Hulk was. Maybe his pay was far less than what Norton would've made.
ruffalo can pull off the hulk, but i dont see him as bruce banner.
Eric Bana is Bruce Banner. No one else is.
i really dont see this film doing justice. i can see that thor and captain america wont be big hit movies. they dont really have the big stars as the other films had. only time will tell if this if gunna be a good or bad thing
That's only true if you presume that someone only goes to see a movie for the actors, rather than the idea behind the movie.
To use the Dark Knight as an example, I find Bale's Batman to be irritating if he speaks too long (it's the voice), and was less than convinced of Aaron Eckhart's ability to portray Harvey Dent; as for the Joker being portrayed by Heath Ledger, I was mortified at the abysmal casting. But I went to see it because I thought the idea had merit, and had enjoyed the first film, despite its flaws. And the Dark Knight was excellent; all my original concerns were totally unfounded.
My point is, I don't think people go to see films simply because of the cast involved; if that were so, then films like the Cable Guy would have been hits, given the popularity of Jim Carrey at the time it was released.
ME 2. Just don't see it.
Multi-hero, multi-villain movies usually suck. (Spider-Man 3, anyone?) Sometimes they work (Watchmen). But usually, not.
I like Whedon, and hope sincerely that he pulls this off.
This is really gay edward nortan was great i might go to every singal theater and burn the avengers so no one has to deal with this crap
No Ed norton? Not shelling out the cash to go to theater! And Evans is already type casted himself as one of the fantastic 4 every time I see him on the previews I'm waiting for him to say somthing cocky spontaneously combust and fly off!! u can't be 2 superheroes it's an honor to be one, my eleven year old would rather wait till it came out at red box haha no joke!! defanantly a disappointment waiting to happen for producers!