I know a lot of people were hoping that this news wasn’t true but sadly it is. I speculated that the reasoning may be money, as did a lot of other bloggers, but Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige denies this in his official statement (although that doesn’t mean it’s not the reason).
Below is the official word from Feige (courtesy of HitFix):
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 couple of interesting things to note from this statement:
- Feige claims the decision is “rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members” – Norton doesn’t?
- “a name actor” – This is counter to the claims yesterday that Marvel were looking for an unknown. Doubtful we’ll see a host of names floated as they were with Captain America as the announcement is imminent…
- Announcement in the coming weeks – Comic-Con starts the 22nd of July.
- “The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble” – Fiege sounds almost like he’s criticizing Norton here, suggesting he’s not a team player. He could also be hinting that The Hulk is one of The Avengers (at least to begin with).
- He mentions Scarlett Johansson’s name in reference to The Avengers – although everyone thinks she’s in The Avengers film I’m pretty sure this hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.
Okay, that’s enough over analyzing of a short statement for now. What do you guys think?