The Avengers - Page 4

there was quite a bit of a disagreement between him and Marvel regarding how The Incredible Hulk turned out. I don't know what he tought of the film ultimately but it was obvious that he wouldn't reprise the role. Back then I thought he came across as a diva, sort of, even if he probably had his reasons. So far I think the Hulk movies are the weakest of the marvel universe on the big screen. I hope The Avengers will fix this. The fact that he's all CGI doesn't help either. The other ones are real.

"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."

- Marvel Studios President of Production Kevin Feige, quoted after firing Edward Norton but prior to hiring Mark Ruffalo.

Norton has a reputation of being "difficult". This seems to translate into the fact that Norton tends to come into a project with some ideas of his own in relation to the script & whatnot. Sometimes it works out well, but in other cases the actor usually ends up pissing off a director, producer or studio suit with his "ideas".

Norton & his HULK director Louis Letterier apparently got along fine, but Marvel took issue with some of the directions Norton wanted to take the film. The movie would certainly have been longer & a tad darker based on what I have heard Norton & Letterier were considering. For Marvel, the film was less about making a grand artistic statement & more about setting up the eventual nerdgasm that is Avengers.

When it came time to round up the whole gang, Marvel opted to not go with what they saw as a potential trouble maker on set (Norton) on a film with no real room for his "suggestions". Whether or not Norton could have reigned in his surely ego-driven creative side to be a team player, Marvel went with Ruffalo.

Mark Ruffalo & Edward Norton are friends. Ruffalo reportedly reached out to Norton when he first got the part & got Norton's blessing.

While its not the first blantant recasting we have seen from the recent Marvel flicks (Terrence Howard/Don Cheadle in IRON MAN) & I imagine Ruffalo will do fine.....I do think they should have sucked it up & hired Norton...and maybe nicely asked him to just stick with the script he was handed.

"the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit"
NOW that is a bitch-slap....

From what I've heard, Norton tried to take control of the editing of The Incredible Hulk in post-production (as he had previously wrested control over American History X and Frida from their directors). He and the studio clashed. Norton got pissy and swore he wouldn't do another Hulk movie. Later, he tried to make nice and said that he was looking forward to working with Joss Whedon in The Avengers, but Feige was having none of it, and issued the bitch-slap statement I posted above.

This movie looks like it will rock! I can see Stark and Thor heading out for cocktails on a Friday night, checkin' out the local action. Hey honey, you wanna swing my big hammer.

Who knows for certain about these behind-the-scenes penis wars?
EN is a good actor, which is all that is important from my POV.
However, MR can pull this off, no doubt.

I'm just glad they're behind the scenes.

Anyway, I want Joss Whedon to be successful, but this trailer just looks so incredibly lame to me.

Same

There's some originality in there, like those shots of explosions going down the street and flipping cars over.

Yes. An in such an exotic location as New York. Strange how you don't see more movies filmed there.

There's also that shot of Scarlett Johannson slo-mo walking in front of an explosion. Never seen anything like that in a hundred thousand other movies before.

Better ScarJo in slow motion than Ruffalo.

I am not sold on his abilities as a filmmaker.
IMO, failures have been his calling card.

I think your failures to troll Joss Whedon fans are your calling card.

I agree that Whedon is a bizarre choice for the Avengers. His abilities as a director are in question, IMO.

He did just fine with Serenity, as well as many episodes of his various TV series and the Dr. Horrible short. Curious where this great concern for his ability as a director comes from, considering that he has yet to direct anything that was actually "bad."

Whedon was hired for this because: 1) He has written comics for Marvel and has a familiarity with the characters, and 2) He specializes in ensemble pieces with large groups of characters, which is exactly what The Avengers will be.

Now, having said that, I've already commented that I think this trailer is pretty lame. What really puzzles me is why all of the characters' costumes look so much cheesier here than they do in any of their individual movies.

Many of the directors for Marvel films have been bizarre choices... but they usually turn out well... or decently.

Whedon is probably the safest choice they've made yet.

Sorry, I didn't realize it would be necessary (again) to point out his ONE and ONLY film failed to make back budget.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/

Apparently, Hollywood was so enthralled with his filmmaking debut of 6 years ago, he has been a filmmaker highly in demand ever since.

You mean like the same shot in Independence Day?

I'm looking forward to the film, and like Whedon's stuff, but that shot, while sort of cool, is in no way original.

lol ... although I do think Serenity is great little sci-fi fun. Poor Summer Glau, she always end up in shows cancelled after 2 seasons max or in a film like Serenity; which doesn't make her less hot of course

If Serenity is one's cup of tea, so be it.

My complaint has always been the Internet hype put out by the self-proclaimed Brownshirts for a film than was considerably less than great sci-fi.

As a huge Marvel fan in the 60's, I do hope JW hits The Avengers out of the park.

Using box office as a measure of quality is a weak argument at best. Lest we think that the Transformers franchise is the pinnacle of the filmmaking art form.


For about half that time, he was attached to direct a Wonder Woman movie that eventually fell through.

Stanley Kubrick directed about one movie a decade. What an incompetent hack he must have been.

As you know, films and TV shows are NOT one and the same thing.

I am a HUGE HUGE fan of Buffy and Angel.

Don't be coy....you know I wasn't inferring that.



Could it have been the Powers-That-Be (the $$$ guys) lacked confidence in his ability to deliver a winner?
IF Serenity had been a big hit, don't you think the purse strings would have loosened for WW?


Yep, MY favorite filmmaker was a hack.

You calling George Lucas a hack?

That's so much sarcasm floating around I'm having a hard time telling if this is serious. George Lucas IS a hack... now.

Yes, yes... Whedon has but Serenity to his name. However, while it didn't "make back its budget", it was very well received with critics and audience-goers alike. And he has extensive experience and success with TV shows.

What did our other Marvel directors do before their shot at a Marvel superhero film?

Iron Man - Jon Favreau - Zathura and Jumanji.
Captain 'Merica - Joe Johnston - JP III and The Rocketeer (this however did make him perfect for it)
Spiderman - Sam Raimi - Evil Dead films
Thor - Kenneth Brannagh - Shakespeare
Incredible Hulk - Louis Leterrier - Transporter films

There's really nothing about any of their resumes that screams out "big budget comic book movie director!!" (perhaps with the exception of Johnston, imo--he would've my first choice). And frankly, I don't know if Whedon's does either... but they sure coulda done a lot worse considering some of their other picks.