Marvel Studios has recast several key characters over the years, most recently the replacement of William Hurt with Harrison Ford in the upcoming “Captain America: New World Order” – a rumor last week seemingly confirmed earlier today.
Still, arguably the most high profile was when Mark Ruffalo replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk for 2012’s “The Avengers” and has played the role ever since.
The recent “She-Hulk: Attorney At Law” had fun with this, Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner saying he is a “completely different person now, literally” in one of the show’s earlier episodes. However, there was a point things could have gone further.
Talking to The Direct, the season finale episode’s director Kat Coiro revealed that there were initially plans to have Norton cameo in the final battle between Abomination and Hulk:
“There was a lot of talk about the fact that the last time they were together a different actor was playing the Hulk. And Mark [Ruffalo] made quite a few jokes about that. And we did entertain the idea of swapping Mark out for Edward Norton. But that did not come to pass.”
Norton wasn’t the only person they wanted to cameo in the finale. Speaking with Slashfilm, Coiro confirmed they hoped Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige would voice the AI robot K.E.V.I.N. saying:
“I think he was always supposed to be a robot brain… there was a hope that [Feige] would lend his voice to the robot [but] that was not something he was interested in.”
Despite that, Feige’s influence can still be felt in the character. The full first season of “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” is up on Disney+ now.
