Back before Joss Whedon was announced as the director for Marvel Studios
The Avengers, Louis Leterrier was heavily rumored to land the gig. The fact that he had directed their latest on screen version of
The Hulk only seemed to help the situation.
MTV had the chance to speak with him recently. Below is the portion of their interview in which he tells them why he likes the character of
The Hulk. He also gives us a few hints as to what direction his version of
The Avengers would have taken.
What was the appeal of Hulk for you? Why was that the right character to start off with?
What I like about Hulk is that he's more of a monster than a superhero — and that's how I treated him in the movie. He was not doing superhero stuff, he was just protecting himself or attacking when he was being attacked. He wasn't saving the world or doing superhero stuff. I was very clear with Marvel when I came on that what really interested me about Hulk was the human side of the monster.
Well, you had a brush with "The Avengers" in addition to your time with Hulk, and your name has been thrown around for a lot of different comic book movies the last few years. With Marvel going elsewhere for "Avengers," are you still interested in that world? Are you still actively going after Marvel superhero projects?
I'm part of the Marvel family now, and I want to keep making Marvel movies. I love this universe and the people working there are fantastic. I want to do something I'm the right fit for, though. I wouldn't be a good "Superman" director — or on the Marvel side, I wouldn't be a good "Spider-Man" director. I'm looking for something that has a lot of humanity and problems — Spider-Man definitely has that, but Hulk was fantastic for me. I just have a hard time convincing myself that a guy would wear a tight suit to fight crime, a bright suit. [Laughs]
We talked a bit about "Avengers," so now that the film is moving forward with Joss Whedon behind the camera, what can you tell us about your plans for the film? You mentioned before that making Hulk the villain would be too "simplistic," so how do you think your version of Hulk will fit into the "Avengers" story?
When I was pitching my take on "The Avengers," I said it had to be like "The Ultimates." It really has to be that Hulk is the villain but also Hulk is the good guy. What's great about Hulk is that he's both sides of the same coin. You can really explore him. And also, again, he's not a superhero. He's a little loose, he's uncontrollable, and that's what's fantastic about this character.
Knowing Joss Whedon, who's a fantastic writer and director, I don't think he's going to go for the simplistic versions of any of these characters. It's going to be very complex and very deep, and that's fantastic.
Hawksblueyes: Hearing this now, I'm happier than I was at the time that he did not land the job.