Eric Bana says he has no interest in playing the Hulk character again after Ang Lee’s 2003 film.
Though the Australian comedian turned actor has appeared in numerous large studio films from “Troy” to “Star Trek,” “Hulk” was his only foray into the superhero genre.
Appearing on the WTF with Marc Maron Podcast to discuss his career, he confirmed it “wasn’t a quick yes” for him to sign up to play Bruce Banner in the film.
“It took me a while to get my head around it. I wasn’t privy to the script prior to signing onto the film. It’s one of the only films I have done where that was the case. It just wasn’t the type of film that I saw myself doing.”
Audiences and critics were mixed on the film which did take some big risks, even if they didn’t always work out. The movie also hit shortly after the revival of superhero films with “Blade” and Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” but before the Nolan Batman and MCU era and so was a standalone work with no real franchise plans:
“You certainly didn’t go into a film like that thinking you were going to do more than one … that just wasn’t in play. The expectations are not the way they are now. I approached it as a one-off.”
He adds that he was not asked to reprise the role in 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk,” a film that saw Edward Norton take over. Bana says he has seen that film but not Mark Ruffalo’s version.
