Avengers... Disassembled?

So everyone else has been giving in their two cents on this current issue, and you didn't expect me to sit this one out did you? Its one that affects us all on a deeply emotional level, whether you agree with how its being resolved or not. So here I am with my view on... Edward Norton not returning for the Avengers film.

Now the last Hulk movie is the very definition of a movie with mixed reviews; people either love it or hate (I personally loved it) but one thing we all can agree on: Ed Norton gave a great performance as Bruce Banner.

Ed Norton became one of my favorite actors after seeing American History X (as I'm sure is the case with most people) and he made Bruce Banner a very compelling, likable, and complex hero and many of us were excited to see him in an eventual Avengers movie alongside Robert Downey Jr. and whichever actors Marvel got to play the other heroes. But soon before the new Hulk film hit theaters word leaked of Ed Norton and Marvel's "creative disputes" over the film and speculation has been going ever since then over whether or not he would return for another film.

Today Marvel released the press statement that Norton would not be returning as Banner, and like many people I was disappointed, but not surprised.

In their press statement, Marvel tried to put in the nicest terms they could that Ed Norton was just a pain in the ass to work with and didnt wanna put up with him for another movie. Its a damn shame but its another case of Hollywood egos ruining a great opportunity. Its no secret that Norton wants almost total control on all of his films, which is all well and good but in the end, making a movie is a collaborative process, not a one man show. None of us will probably ever know the full story of what happened between Norton and Marvel (Norton says Marvel agreed to give him creative control on the project; Marvel said Norton just took control) but in the end, movie studios will only put up with actors shit for so long. It just happened recently with Thor, when Stuart Townsend, another talented actor, landed a supporting but was replaced before filming began because he constantly complained that he wanted a bigger role (consequently, Townsend was fired from the Lord of the Rings movies for the same reason and was replaced by Viggo Mortenson). Val Kilmer is another example, a great talented actor but most directors in Hollywood refuse to work with him because of his ego.

Now I'm not taking sides, like I said I'm disappointed to see Norton go as well. As I said before, he's one of my favorite actors and his performance as Banner more than made up for Eric Bana sleepwalking through the role in the previous Hulk film. But I can see why Marvel did what they did, and I'm sure the Avengers film will be just as good without him. The Avengers already has a very talented cast going for it with Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johanssen, Don Cheadle, and the recently announced Jeremy Runner as Hawkeye, and Joss Whedon behind the camera.

I am curious to see what will happen with the Hulk role though. Most of the information we have on The Avengers is just rumors, one rumor saying that Hulk will be a villain and be in Hulk form the whole time, another claiming that the role of Bruce Banner will be small and filled by an unknown, and another saying that a big name will be announced as Banner so that the Hulk movies will continue outside the Avengers. Personally, I hope the latter rumor is the case because I love the Hulk as a character and think he deserves one more solo go-round, but I guess we'll see.

All in all, I'm still very excited for The Avengers. A lot of people are saying that Joss Whedon isn't qualified for a project this big but I disagree. The man has overseen Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and Dollhouse, handling writing duties and even directing episodes. His only feature directing gig was Serenity, which is a personal favorite of mine and a regular on most "Best Science Fiction Movies of all time" lists. Serenity was very much a team movie, much like the Avengers it has a rag tag group of people banded together to face something bigger than themselves, the action scenes were well executed, the writing witty, and had a bad ass villain to boot!

So yes, I think The Avengers is still on the right track, Ed Norton will be missed but I'm sure when The Avengers hits in summer 2012 we won't notice amid all of the other awesomeness happening on the big screen.

http://www.superherohype.com/news/articles/103715-no-edward-norton-for-the-avengers