Joss Whedon Shares His Thoughts On Jeremy Renner And Mark Ruffalo!

cool even though norton is one of my favorite actors i love the avengers way to much to pass on it. As much as i love norton he really wasnt the perfect banner, i think ruffalo could easily do better

i agree Ruffalo has that damaged soul quality that Norton does not have

if you just look at mark you get a "he has been though some stuff" vibe from him

So, Hopefully Ultimate Avengers Hawkeye, Ruffalo is a good actor, people who are still pissed about Norton will continue to be until the movie gets out, Loki will most likely be in control of the Hulk, so Banners screen time will be cut down, maybe that will ease people since Hulk will be terrorizing throughout the whole film and if its Skrulls then they'll use Banner and need the Hulk more than Banner....

If they cut down Banner's screen time, I'd be okay with that. I think Norton was a fantastic Banner, even though Feige said he wasn't a team player. Though I hope this wasn't all over how involved he was with post production. I see how it could get annoying, but isn't the mark of a good actor that he cares about his work, even after it's out of his hands? Another reason I don't like Ruffalo is... How are they going to change the Hulk design THIS time? If they make him look more "Hulk" and less "Incredible Hulk", then everyone will just get pissed all over again. Plus, Ruffalo in "Incredible Hulk 2"? If they make it-- It will be ACCEPTABLE (nothing more, nothing less) to see Ruffalo in Avengers. But can he carry a solo flick as Banner? Probably not. IMHO.

"And the more and more I hear about Whedon and how he is so committed to great story telling, I'm feeling more and more confident the avengers will be an all around great movie"

It's great that he's a fan who has been reading Marvel since he was a kid.Also, his other projects have been the equivalent of live action comic book ensembles.I've never been this sure of a CBM director, without having seen any of the finished movie.

Anyway, it's been 2 years since we saw Norton as Banner.Come 2012, it'll be 4.I can understand it's still fresh now, but people have gotta let it go by then.

Yeah, I wish they would have picked Ruffalo the first time around. Norton is too hardcore and has too much energy to play Banner. Ruffalo has that calmness about him and he looks the part, think he is a great pick!

OH! SO NOW ITS YOUR FAULT WHEDON! YOU KNOW FANS WANTED NORTON AND YOU HAD TO GO BE A DOUCHE! I HATE YOU WHEDON...But I do Like what you do! So After the Avengers if I don't see a sequel to The Sing Along Blog I will be so Angry that you wont even care...DOuche!

Didn't Ruffalo beat brain cancer a while back? Cut the guy a break already.

All this patter about Ruffalo has me bummed. No, not about the Norton thing, although I did like his Banner in TIH. There has been all this noise, from fans, from producers, from studio suits, from directors, about the Banner role. What this tells me is that they seem to be leaning towards the Banner character carrying most of the lines/plot from that point of view, rather than the Hulk character. I'm not sure I like that since it represents a significant break with the comics. Yeah, I know it's an adaptation, but still, it was always the Hulk persona that made his participation in the Avengers interesting. You never knew what he was going to do. The Avengers have always had enough nerds.

It could work, but I hope they still the Hulk persona some characterization in the film as part of the group dynamic. You know the Avengers are going to spend some part of the time beating on the Hulk and then have to find a way to work with him. How is that going to work if all the screen time goes to the Banner persona? I trust Whedon and Feige, so I'm not worried, but the train tracks right now look like they are pointing away from what I was hoping for.

opps spoke to late here they come! lol

Although I'm still a little worried that Whedon wont include Hank and Jan in The Avengers, you cant deny that he sounds like he knows what he's doing as is evident by these two stellar casting choices! Ed Norton was a good Bruce Banner but Ruffalo sounds like the far better choice of actor for what Whedon plans to do with the character IMO.

I'm so glad he was involved with perfecting the Captain America script as well. His work on Astonishing X-Men showed what an amazing comic book writer he is and how well he can handle an ensemble cast of characters in a team situation. (as shows of his like the excellent Firefly have also demonstrated of course!)

wtf? why is this guy the director? What big budget movie has he made?

I think norton did a great job as banner in his version...but 2 be honest i think ruffalo will bring a diff dynamic 2 the character....norton played a banner that was constantly trying 2 controle and figure out a way 2 beat/ get rid of the hulk...i think ruffalo will do a better job at showcasing the weaker exausted depressed apoligetic side of banner...a more emotional banner...i think honestly we will see a side of banner that we were kinda missing in TIH

@ Ottoevans

Whedon Is A Great Writer His run on Astonishing Xmen was FANTASTIC, Dr Horribles Sing Along Blogs FN Perfect and the Work he has Done on Buffy gives me hope that The Avengers will be Ok With Whedon Directing, But the problem still remains His Casting for Banner was Ridiculous and awful, Ill be Skipping The Avengers but Im sure the Story will be good, But not as Spectacular as it could have been, Some of Marvels Great Property's are owned by FOX and Sony If Spiderman and members of the Xmen cant be in it then I don't really care about the Avengers...But Whedon deserves his credit

Ruffalo is a great actor and im sure he makes decent job as Banner, but goddammit it would have been great to see Norton with these other guys in The Avengers!:D I waited it so long and when they are finally starting release the cast... Norton is not coming back anymore!! I mean F*CK i was angry!:( You all know the feeling of dissapointment! Im sure of it!

Guys, we all loved Norton (most of us). We all wanted him to be back (pretty much all of us). It wont happen, Ruffalo is a great actor and he will be a great Hulk character (we went through the same thing when Norton was casted (most of us).

It's like separating from a girlfriend that you like, she likes you back but you cant have her (she went on to live in freaking, I dont, overseas...). It's hard to let go.

We have to let go!

Ruffalo is growing on me.

Whedon is one of the top scriptwriters in the
business. I would say he is a genius at reworking
scripts! He has reworked and written a bunch of
scripts for other movies, very successful movies.
I am not worried about his writing at all!

Serenity showed me personally that he can direct
a big screen bigger-than-life sci-fi movie so it
seems to me he is perfect for THE AVENGERS!

It's not his decision whether Hank & Jan are there
or not, it's Marvel's and Kevin Feige's! The blame
for not including 2 of the 5 founding members of
THE AVENGERS goes on Marvel and Feige! I have no
clue why they aren't included and even more puzzled
why a lot of people outright hate them! I mean, a
giant 50 foot man is cool as hell!!!!!

Hank with Jan invented Ultron who should be the bad
guy in AVENGERS 2. They are throwing away half of the
Avengers story when they throw away Hank & Jan!!!!
IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE TO ME WHATSOEVER!!!!!

People seem to be quick to blame Whedon for not doing this or not having that. Do you really think he is making any decisions without Marvel? There is no way Marvel is going to let him make the key decisions that people seem to be blaming him for. Marvel will be dictating things like whether Hank and Janet are going to be in the Avengers. Whedon will not be dictating that to Marvel.