Edward Norton Wanted ‘The Dark Knight’-Esque Hulk Movie

By Shakiel Mahjouri. Published: 7 Oct 2019 5:51 PM Last updated: 7 Oct 2019 6:01 PM

Edward Norton. Photo: Credit Image: © Hubert Boesl/DPA via ZUMA Press

If Edward Norton had it his way, “The Incredible Hulk” would be incredibly dark.

Norton portrayed Bruce Banner in 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk” movie. He was subsequently replaced by Mark Ruffalo for Banner and Hulk’s future Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances.

Norton recently told The New York Times his original pitch for “The Incredible Hulk” was a much different film from the one that hit theatres. “What Chris Nolan had done with Batman was going down a path that I aligned with: long, dark and serious,” he shared.

“If there was ever a thing that I thought had that in it, it was the Hulk,” Norton continued. “It’s literally the Promethean myth. I laid out a two-film thing: The origin and then the idea of Hulk as the conscious dreamer, the guy who can handle the trip.”

The “Birdman” actor said Marvel Studios was initially on board for his “Dark Knight” inspired Hulk. “They were like, ‘That’s what we want!’ As it turned out, that wasn’t what they wanted,” he said. “But I had a great time doing it. I got on great with Kevin Feige.”

Following “The Incredible Hulk”, Norton went on to star in such films as “Motherless Brooklyn” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” while Ruffalo portrayed Banner in “Avengers: Endgame” and “Thor: Ragnorak”.