Whenever it’s known a major blockbuser role is up for grabs, it seems lots and lots of people rack their brains for who would seem a good fit, and then anyone who seems at all possible will at some point have to be rumoured to have landed the role. While that process normally takes weeks to get through everyone (just look at how many Spider-man contenders were rumoured to have nabbed the role before Andrew Garfield was announced), it’s happening at lightning speed for the person who’ll replace Ed Norton as Bruce Banner/Hulk in The Avenngers, as while we only learned Ed lost the role last week, Marvel wants to announced a ‘name’ replacement at or before their Avengers ComicCon panel on July 24th,
As a result, in the last 24 hours, Adrien Brody, Nathan Fillion and David Tennant have been announced as being in line for the role, while Joaquin Phoenix was said to be up for it earlier this week. However most of the current speculation is surrounding Mark Ruffalo, and it appears that the role is his if he wants it. While Deadline reports Marvel is in late stage talks with Ruffalo to play Bruce Banner in The Avengers, THR says things aren’t quite that far along and at the moment an offer has been made to to the actor, which he’s currently considering.
He would certainly seem a great choice, as he can do both pained and angry extremely well, although he’s never previously shown an inclination towards comic book movies. Indeed he’s never appeared in any sort of summer tentpole release, preferring to stick to more serious Hollywood fare and indie (with the occassional rom-com chucked ing). It would seem then that it’s up to him – whether he fancies playing the Hulk and whether Marvel is offering enough money. Ruffalo is said to be meeting director Joss Whedon at the end of the week, which a decision coming shortly afterwards.