The reason why Edward Norton left the MCU because he wanted to explore Hulk and Bruce banner's character in detail and wanted to take the character in a serious direction but MCU rejected that.

Norton wouldn't have let The Hulk become a bad joke.

100% agree with your take on this. Edward Nortons Hulk is so under-rated. I recently watched it again. The whole time, I was asking myself "why did they move away from this". Hulk was legit scary.

The Incredible Hulk 2008 is very underrated

Ed Norton for the win all day. The Hulk is a character who is always struggling. Seeing him hassle for a pair of stretchy pants on the street and waking up dirty and lost is 100% Hulk. Having him even set foot on American soil, let alone New York to attend n after party without Ross breathing down his neck is not Hulk. In fact, the very thought of it makes me…hungry. And you wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry.

Edward Norton hit the comic book Banner perfectly. This current hulk, makes me angry.

Edward Norton act like a normal guy because scientis ARE normal people and not some steriotipical nerd guy that is clearly a scientist, is that simple.

the thing I loved the most about norton hulk is one small dialogue hulk said at the begening fight scene ( leave me alone ) that means he is not just a monster who wants to fight and rage, he is just protecting himself.

Edward's Hulk was always my favorite. Massive and SAVAGE. MCU ruined the Hulk especially with making Planet Hulk into a joke movie.

Finally someone else gets it. The Incredible Hulk was the best and helped established the MCU.

Norton was the truer version of the Hulk, an uncontrollable monster of pure rage. Ruffalo's was like a giant, dumb baby. MCU ruined the character. I wholly agree with your take here! 💯

I agree 💯 1 Edward Norton 2 Mark Ruffalo 3 Eric Bana

Ed Nortons Hulk and the film he was in are severly slept on, its criminal. Not only is that movie pretty dang good, but Norton was actually clearly passionate about the serious nuances of Hulk as an allegory for both Prometheus and Jekyll/Hyde

THANK YOU! Finally, somebody recognizes the greatness of the 2008 Incredible Hulk was it the greatest movie? No! But to me, this one is a lot closer to the Bruce Banner/Hulk than any of Mark Ruffalo‘s appearances and I do agree his best one was in the first avengers film! In all honesty, Nortons version is enjoyable for me because I was a child when the late Bill Bixby was on TV with his Incredible Hulk along with Luke Ferrigno that’s another reason I’m biased towards Norton film because it felt like almost a tribute to that show!

The Incredible Hulk of 2008 is such a great and underrated movie.

I really like Edward Norton's portrayal of Bruce Banner and the Hulk. He shows his inner conflict within himself like Jekyll and Hyde.

Ed Norton is the best Hulk hands down 😊

The last time we saw the real Hulk was in Age of Ultron, then Disney was to blame for hiring a comedy director to kill him.

Norton was absolutely badass as the Hulk. And, Norton's Hulk was actually TERRIFYING in that 1st scene. The build-up to the first transformation was brilliant!!

Actually, there was a time when Bruce faced lingering consequences from Hulk's actions. In the first Avengers film, Bruce says to Tony, "Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke Harlem." It's a small line, but it adds context to Bruce's character.

I actually thought Edward Norton was the better version of the movie

i don't really read comics, but ed norton made me fall in love with hulk

Marvel made me hate the Hulk. Used to be my favorite superhero even above batman.

I preferred Edward Norton the best, because he's the most savage Hulk of all than Mark Ruffalo.

We didn’t deserve The Incredible Hulk movie.

Edward Norton is the best Bruce Banner.

I absolutely agree with every point in this Video we went from The Incredible Hulk to the incredible joke 😢

At last, some recognition for the Incredible Hulk movie. It's a really good dark and tragic movie, and Ed not only portrays an original heroic figure (his heroism comes from his sense of sacrifice, of responsability, boldness and cleverness), but he also had his say on the screenplay to make it less cartoonish and childish, to make a great adult genre movie. Ruffalo's line "I'm always angry"in Avengers doesn't bother me though. I always felt that it means that Bruce can hulk out when he wants (and then, if he let him come out, he controls him a bit) but not that he can't transform when he doesn't want to anymore. Sure, his portrayal comes to be less and less horrific and scary after each new film, and that's why Incredible Hulk got him at his best, most thrilling moments, but it's not a problem, it shows that Bruce get further in his quest for self-control. It's not the principle that is bad, it's the execution (the fact that his quest is poorly narrated)

I agreed, i miss Norton hulk 😢

Never gonna forgive them for giving away arguably the gretaest Hulk story to Thor.

To be fair, the Norton movie did end with him gaining some control so that checks out

I fuckin' agree edward norton is the best hulk

Ed Norton respected the character completely. That was the rub with the control freaks at Marvel

Norton hulk was the best Hulk.

Edward Norton hulk is better than mcu Ruffalo

This, and a few other roles, is why Edward Norton will always be one of my favorite actors. The guy knows how to act, he knows how to sell emotion and convey that through the story he is given, and it's a crime to me that his role in this movie isn't talked about more. Hell, him as an actor isn't talked about more than he should be. He was the perfect choice for Hulk then, and I'd be happy to see him in another. I doubt he will, but it'd be cool to see him return.

I agree 100%, Norton is my favorite Hulk, but looking at how MCU has ruined the Hulk (and Thor!) over time, maybe it was good that Edward Norton was spared that same humiliation (instead, ruffalo will take most of it).

It is my dream to direct a Hulk movie. Official or not, I’d love to have a Hulk that has a massive impact on anyone or any place he goes. A timid man turned beast that is actually scary to see.

I've been saying this since the beginning! Edward Nortons Hulk movie is the best! Glad to see you and all the other Marc Ruffulo fan boys finally come around to reality!

Is Betty ever mentioned in the sequels? The isolation Bruce suffers and his separation from Betty is what made Norton Hulk/Banner compelling. Plus, I do not ship Bruce with Natasha.

For me the best Banner was always between Norton and _Bana._ Ruffalo did pretty good in the Helicarrier scene and in India, but Bruce Banner being a scientist is just half of the equation. The other half is that he's a timid wimp who is thinner and frail. He is not a jokester liker Tony Stark or Peter Parker, he is a man on the run doing everything he can to survive and build a happy and peaceful life despite the odds being overwhelmingly against him.

Combine the 03 and 08 Hulk movies and you have a perfect hulk movie. Bana and Norton both had their faults but they atleast felt like an actual attempt at Hulk.. whereas Ruffalo is completely unrecognizable as the character and always was (for the most part).

I have been saying this for years!! Mark is watered down Hulk and Edward is the Hulk we deserve.

I might be in the minority here but I loved the 2003 HULK, I put that ahead of Mark Ruffalo’s hulk but no hulk tops Edward Norton’s hulk. 2003 Hulk literally felt like we were literally watching a comic book movie it was amazing and still holds up to this day.

The downfall of Hulk in not Mark Ruffalo's fault, it is Marvel's. He has no control over the plot or the character development.

Although there were reported behind-the-scenes tensions between Marvel and Edward Norton, I STILL believe that he was the best on-screen Bruce Banner/Hulk. No disrespect to Mark Ruffalo. He is a very good actor. However, I did not truly see him as Bruce Banner. His version of the Hulk was more like a larger, green version of Ruffalo and NOT the Hulk. Edward Norton brought out the fear, isolation, and inner turmoil of Bruce Banner, as well as the comic book Hulk IE: "Hulk smash!" I am sorry that Mr. Norton did not remain with the MCU. However, he and Marvel had to make the choices that they believed were respectively right for them.

Mark's hulk was cool but later became a joke.

Edward Norton best HULK to this day, not a joke character that RUffalo plays. Ah yes, Leader somehow now fights vs Falcon.

Ed Norton's hulk is my favourite because ut reminded me of bill bixbys banner/hulk 'problem' more the scientific aura I love about Norton's banner. And hes a brilliant actor 👍🏻

Ed Norton was the best Banner/ Hulk.🤘🤘

Edward Norton is the best in my opinion.

Eric Bana. Seriously, the 2003 movie includes Banner's abusive childhood - something the later Hulks lack, that tragic element that precedes the advent of the Hulk. It is an important element to the character, because it is why Savage Hulk is the way he is. The main problem with that movie was the pacing - but its rendition of Hulk was pretty spot on.

Incredible Hulk was the best Hulk ever...

I think the Norton Banner had started to gain control, but the fact that Avengers opened with Banner working for cash in an isolated village in India suggests his control was not 100%. It failed completely when the Scarlet Witch attacked him and he went "Code Green", though Natasha could calm him down. Rather than Banner "having full control", I suggest that was temporary and tenuous. He didn't "turn into Hulk", he allowed Hulk to take over. I'm surprised you didn't mention the first episode of She-Hulk though.....poor Jen, the hell she had been through, being a wealthy and successful lawyer, from a privileged background.....

2008 hulk is just perfect!!!!!

The Incredible Hulk is Actually when you think about it is One of The Best Marvel Movies

OMG yes. I love the idea of Bruce Banner on the run. When Nick fury recruited him, we couldn’t even get a scene of him hesitating of Nick fury like wiping his legal slate clean. Norton, as Bruce Banner is basically like you’re replacing the hulk with an uncontrollable werewolf transformation. And I love that movie. I want an else world movie where we get Edward Norton as Bruce Banner again. The hulk is more of a monster than a hero.

Edward Norton is still my favorite rendition of Bruce Banner/hulk. I hated his re-casting he was a very seclusive serious scientist that wanted to get his curse under control, and he unleashed it only when he absolutely had to.

I totally agree. Norton is and will always be my Favorite Hulk!! Although I watched The Avengers first I didn't know about The Incredible Hulk but when I watched it for the first time I realised that Norton is way better than Mark Buffalo

I think Marks Hulk can turn into the hulk whenever he wants too but it’s the controlling it and NOT turning when he doesn’t want that he can’t do

I agree! Edward Norton was the best Hulk!

This mcu hulk didn’t feel like an avenger level threat. how will he even feel like a world war hulk? mcu clowned him real bad.

Best analysis ive seen on the hulk in a while the mcu has sucked for years to me after infinity war I stopped caring incredible hulk and the first iron man were one of the best mcu movies and I dont care what anyone else says

Personally i feel Mark Rufallo does good job being Bruce Banne the problem is the writting that made him so goofy and not being the badass Hulk used to be kinda suck because i feel he does good is job but the bad writtinh is all over our faces but i agree that Edward Norton is the best Hulk.

I seriously can't understand, why people hate norton hulk that time???

I actually thought Ed did a decent job as Bruce, he's way more convincing in the look and vibe of the character than Ruffalo who in my opinion doesn't fit at all and was terrible but neither of them are the ideal version to me, Eric Bana's Bruce and Hulk was how I always imagined the character to be, Bana's looks and appearance, his portrayal of an emotionally-detached moody, anti-social man with a haunting past and his Hulk looks the most innocent but the most badass in character like Frankenstein's creation, Ang Lee's movie is also the only one where I feel did it the best as a character-driven story and the right tone and atmosphere

I agree Edward is the better Hulk and to me he is the better Bruce as well. I’m so mad they have turned my favorite superhero as a kid to this joke..

i totally agreed with you . Edward Norton will always be The best Hulk of all time. it's like Tobey Maguire as Spidey. old is good, better. Old is Gold.

I wish this hulk movie had potential to grow into a series like the spider man series (with tobey McGuire). I saw similar vibes in the tone of nortons hulk with McGuire’s spider man. The whole point of a superhero movie is the tone and personality of the main character . 2008 hulk was more believable and could have been expanded upon.

Norton's was Visceral. Mark's was Comical.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Disney ruins everything they touch.

“I’m always angry” doesn’t even make sense within the movie. He just lost his shit at the Helicarrier. Cool line tho.

Bill Bixby’s Hulk was not a misfit, that’s why I like Edward Norton’s version the best,it stayed true to the television series

Ed portrays Bruce great in this movie BECAUSE of where Bruce Banner is in his life, but overall I think Mark plays Bruce better, the quiet timid nerdy guy Bruce normally is, I’m not getting into the “smart hulk” problem the MCU did bc that literally RUINS everything about the MCU Bruce Banner and Hulk

100% Agree

Finally your coming to your Senses Pickle and Realizing Edward Norton is the True Take on Bruce Banner Cause every time i watch Edward Nortons 2008 Hulk he actually looked Scary every time he growls he looks like a threating Monster the madder he gets the stronger he gets and Nortons Bruce Banner plays the part of a Scientist very well struggling with a beast inside him searching for a cure while running from the military and being with Betty ross just like the comics and Kevin Fegie Litterley Shits on it so its for the kids im like WTF man

You talk about "separation from the comics" and everything but the problem is is that none of this shit was *ever* tied to the comics even at it's best. It only ties to the comics when they feel like it'll be easier to write. But beyond all that the entire problem is that they soft retconned Hulk to be an entirely separate personality instead of just "a piece of Banner he locks away." And they essentially just pick and choose when that's the case and when it's not. The problem is is that Hulk and Banner ARE NOT THE EXACT SAME PERSON!!! that's what everyone seems to forget and blank on. They are entirely separate entities who share a body. And continue to develop more personalities and beings to turn into depending on the stress and anger of each situation. Down to each version having entirely different memories and cognitive functions. But see to write something like that would require Hulk to be taken seriously and have an incredibly well written complex dialougue. Because that's the thing most normies who only grew up on the movies never seems to notice. Even when being at his absolute most savage and most blindingly furious and violent. Basically all versions of Hulk except like *1* hate attacking civilians or seeing them get hurt and will go out of their way to stop mid fight to the death to save even random people's lives. There's such complexity to Hulk's character well beyond even just the elements of "nerd empowerment fantasy" and things of that nature. And it's a damn shame the MCU ruined the entire story to tell with him so quickly and so definitively.

Would have love to see Edward Norton Hulk Trilogy because he understood what the Hulk was but because of the struggle with the other Director (The Director of Fast 5) it cause him to be fired

Personally, I was upset that they just completely cut out Betty Ross from Hulk's storyline: she played such an important role both in the comic books and a reason for Bruce to want to get a handle on his anger

Ruffalo = Best Banner and scientist, Norton = Best Hulk! Wish they kept the same badass hulk in avengers.

I like Ruffalo’s Hulk (Pre-End game) better but Edward Norton was the better Banner in my opinion.

Here’s the biggest question about the hulk in the MCU whatever happened to Betty Ross ?was she suppose to be Bruce true love interest? She appear in the incredible hulk and then she was never mention again in any of the MCU films, it’s like marvel and kevin feige just completely forgot about her 😑

The "I'm always angry" line does kind of contradict the scene in the Helicarrier.

Ruffalo is not a good fit to play Bruce Banner. He acts like somebody's Father who accidentally wandered into a film set. Norton was fantastic. I really wish Disney would have listened to Norton, and brought him over to the MCU.

I miss the old hulk

Best Better than Raffalo is The Hulk played by Banner the actual name of the actor in films. But the best banner is the 1970s show

Very Good, Edward Norton The Best Hulk in film ever.

Funny thing is the i'm convinced that the MCU intentionally leaked that argument Edward had with the director due to the fact that they made a standalone movie while not owning the rights to do so in order to burry the movie to avoid litigation. Just a hunch.

I'm pretty sure his movie didn't reach the true potential cause of Marvel and the director, Marvel is knows to half ass their movies and just make them "formulaic"

A bit of clarification about the "I'm always angry" thing. It's basically just the next step which the Norton movie actually ends on. He's learned how to harness his rage, keep it just below the surface to instantly fire when necessary and when he's of at least adequately clear mind he can aim it like he did with Abomination or how he does just before credits while meditating in a cabin. In the helicarrier the scepter/mind stone was making everyone super aggro at each other so Bruce was not of clear mind. Then he was suddenly exploded with no idea of what caused it and the only person nearby was someone who had been antagonizing him just a minute earlier... Thus Hulk was on a classic rampage, unable to distinguish friend from foe. But later with the alien army, that's a clear target to aim Hulk at. And Bruce was going in knowing what had to be done and who his allies were, and thus so did Hulk. It's never been perfect control over Hulk but by the end of 2008 and in Avengers 1, under the right circumstances Bruce was able to harness the Hulk for good. I don't think that really sacrifices the classic conflict behind the character, it just lets him have one good day. It lets Hulk be heroic in very specific circumstances. Later movies definitely drop the ball on this dynamic but I do still think Avengers 1 is neck and neck with 2008 for representing the character well with practically no contradictions, only reasonable compromises to have a team up story where Hulk gets to play hero for a bit, just like the comics. Hard agree on basically everything else. MCU does not understand or care about Hulk. Even Whedon lost track in Age of Ultron despite totally *getting* it in the prior film.

The marvel cinematic universe just ruined my favorite Marvel's character of all time the incredible hulk and what were they thinking when they hired Mark Rufolo he couldn't even get the David banner right you know what marvel studios overpays everybody else that's why Edward Norton left he was a 10 times better David banner and Hulk thanks MCU for fucking up my all-time favorite

I honestly preferred Mark as Bruce Banner, not as Hulk, just Bruce. And only in the first 2 avengers movies.

Ngl, the intro of this video made me angry because Ruffalo praise is so misguided. But after watching to the end, I'm proud of you! You nailed many of the points and criticisms I've thought about for years. It all goes to show how little the MCU cares about the character and as a long time reader of the comics since I was a kid, it's painful to see Hulk fall so low. Here are more points I think you missed: - Ruffalo's acting is worse than most people think, and it's not just because Norton was a more capable actor with more range (which absolutely was the case). To put it simply, Ruffalo just cannot act believably angry, and for a character who's key to transforming is losing his temper and losing control, this is a huge fucking problem. Aside from the intro scene in Avengers there's virtually no angst to his performance and he's portrayed as a one dimensional stereotype nerd. He's misdirected at best and miscast at worst (and I persoanlly go with the latter in this case). They clearly wanted him to be Bill Bixby 2.0 but his acting is laughable in comparison. - Along with the loss of rage boosts they've also totally stripped away his healing ability. This was something the 08 film showed visually during the fight with Abomination (cuts healing mid fight) as well as the 03 Ang Lee film displaying similar healing feats even without anger. The Avengers version can't heal his own arm which is fucking ridiculous. In the comics he's had significant parts of his body eaten and still regenerated from it. It would be like MCU Wolverine suddenly having no healing powers. - The MCU "merged" or professor Hulk is a watered down, nerfed version compared to the comics. The original was the combination of 3 personalities (Banner, the savage/green Hulk and the darker and more cunning gray Hulk). All of this was built up to with internal conflicts and eventually led to a fight with Maestro (one of Hulk's greatest villains due to being an older version of himself - the merged Hulk). All of that is squandered and made impossible in the MCU because they didn't bother with any split personalities to begin with and Ruffalo's Banner is the only personality in control rather than it being a fusion of the other minds. - Rumours about MCU's Red Hulk suggest that they're going to incorporate aspects of the Joe Fixit charcter (Gray Hulk) into that version of Red Hulk. In other words, they're gutting yet ANOTHER part of Hulk/Banner's story from he comics (one of his core personalities) and giving it to another character. They've already gone out of their way to ignore the multile personalities of Bruce (something that gives his character incredible depth and is rooted in his childhood trauma) and stripping that away because it's either too dark for Disney or deemed too complex for normie viewers to understand. If a character like Spider-man was treated this way it would be considered an outrage but because so many people are ignorant of the Hulk from the comics it's just accepted that this is fine and we shouldn't expect much from a big screen version. I don't see any saving the MCU version of the character.

edward norton Hulk - GOAT

edward norton was the best hulk and bruce banner imho.

You nailed this video. This movie is the most Comic accurate to the Incredible Hulk Comic book and when Marvel was sold to Disney it was the beginning of the end when they got rid of Ed Norton as Bruce aka Hulk.

Actuly only one actor has ever played the hulk Lou Ferrigno . Everyother only played Dr Banner The hulk other then Lou Ferrigno were CGI

hol up! people be saying nortons hulk was trash?

I was fine with Mark playing Bruce banner, but I wish marvel kept the hulk the same, that hulk seemed like he was straight out of the world war hulk comics, a marvel movie, making it’s hero being introduced like a horror movie monster. Also it probably would have prevented marvel from becoming 75% joke, 20% action, and 5% serious. Do not get me wrong, phase 1-3 of marvel had the perfect combination of comedy, action, and it was serious when it needed to be, but now, there obsessed with adding in as many comedic moments, and jokes as possible. Honestly the only MCU things I might watch are probably Loki season 2, WandaVision season 2, and maybe marvel what if’s. (There we’re only 3 episodes I actually liked in the what if’s series, but I’m willing to give season 2 a try, hopefully they will go back to making the jokes actually seem natural.)

I like Edward Norton but I think Eric bana was a better hulk but mark rRuffalo was ok I guess. I feel like Eric bana movie is underappreciated I like the scene when they were shooting at him and he got bigger and bigger because of his rage.