Starring in movies such as the Illusionist and The Italian Job has made Norton a household name these days. And for the man who is, personally, one of the greatest actors alive, Norton has grown in stature in my eyes after evidence has spotlighted his writing talent.
It was announced at Comic-Con that Norton had actually written the script for the latest Marvel incarnation of the big bad and green man. Speaking at the con Norton said, "I came into this and wrote the screenplay. I was a Marvel kid. I had subscriptions to a lot of Marvel comics. I loved the early incarnation of the Hulk and then the television show, and then in later years, where they took it in the Bruce Jones Return of the Monster series. I always felt like it was like one of those great contemporary myths."
His claim of writing the script has been backed up by news from a LA Times article, where it lists why there was a need to have a script written by the time Norton was brought on board. Up until 3 months prior to shooting was scheduled to begin, there was no finalized script. So when Norton came on board, he also offered to write the screenplay for a movie which was firmly laid out in his mind.
From the article; Norton had well-established (if underground) writing experience and strong ideas about how to separate the film from any confusion over its connection to the 2003 Ang Lee version by casting it in a more distinct, starting-over vein like "Batman Begins" or "Casino Royale."
Opening on June 13, 2008, the Incredible Hulk is shaping up to be a real hit, and despite my early reservations at a movie similar to the 2003 flop, I think I might just eagerly anticipate news and rumors for this one.