Apparently RDJ wasn’t full of the crap cakes when he said that Avengers  was filming themselves a scene this evening. Oh-no-no. The Green Bastard himself Mark Ruffalo went ahead and confirmed it as well, probably to the considerable agitation of Kevin Feige.

Read the rest of this entry »

[face of a franchise presents two individuals that’ve fulfilled the same role. your task — choose the better of the two and defend your choice in the rancor pit that is the comments section]

The Hulk is a pretty easy character to support. I mean, seriously, what’s not to love? Is it the fact that the dude is a research scientist hoping to improve the state of the world? Could it be the tremendous lengths he goes to while trying to win over the love of his life? Maybe it’s his incredible aversion to violence, the reticent willingness to engage in fisticuffs only as an absolute last resort?

Or perhaps it’s the fact that when the Hulk gets pissed off and push comes to shove, he fucking smashes.

Despite the general consensus about big green bastard’s appeal, a debate arises when discussing those depictions outside of the paneled page. Old school Banner-believers may cite the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno tagteam from The Incredible Hulk series as being the definitive portrayal. On the other hand, the more rabid fanboy-augurs amongst us are already claiming that the best Hulk-performance will be found in Mark Ruffalo. There’s no denyin’ that all three of these actors deserve recognition for their contributions to the superheroic Jekyll & Hyde mythos.

But when it comes to live-action dramatizations of the triple threat match between Banner’s id, ego, and super-ego, two actors stand above the rest.

In 2003’s Hulk,   Eric Bana used his supreme thespian skills to conjure up an image of a brutish, mentally-deficient being with enormous muscles. And that was just his take on Banner! Zing! Seriously though, the Aussie-actor guides the audience through a vision of the Hulk that must navigate his way through a whole mess of psychological pitfalls, including inferiority issues, Oedipal complexes, and the volatility of suppressed rage. Bana paints a portrait of the green goliath that uses both the broad strokes of intense violence as well as the subtle strokes of a shattered psyche.

Five years later, Edward Norton got the chance to bring the breaker of worlds to life in The Incredible Hulk. Somewhere in between a sequel and a reboot, this film tries to give fans exactly what they love about the character. Banner’s on the run, Betty Ross is lookin’ dope as hell, Thunderbolt Ross is bein’ a pain in the proverbial emerald ass, and there’s another monster for the Hulk to fight. Eddie Norton fit particularly well, as he looked the part of the scrawny science nerd but carried himself with the intensity of a man trying to iron out emotional wrinkles of the most brutal sort. Additionally, most fans agree that this second feature-length attempted was more successful than the first…but how much of that can be attributed to Norton?

This is a tricky one. Australia vs. America. Nero vs. The Narrator.

So who’s the best Hulk? Eric Bana or Edward Norton?

Read the rest of this entry »

Oh shit, the second official trailer for The Avengers  has dropped! And it’s…something? I’m on campus and I can’t check it out right now. I’ll add my thoughts in the comments section later.

WATCH IT, swine. Let me know what you think.

Read the rest of this entry »

Now that Thor and Captain America have graced the big screen and pumped our nerd glands, all attention can turn to the upcoming Avengers flick. I want it, I want it so desperately. Heaving chest, panting, pained. The wild card of the flick is the Hulk, being played for the first time by Marky Ruffalo. Is third time a charm? What the funk is he going to look like?

Read the rest of this entry »

The whirlwind continues! Who the funk shall be playing the nerdy scientist/green avalanche of destruction, rippling muscle, and awesome purple shorts? Mark Ruffalo? Maybe?

via slashfilm:

Deadline reports is that Mark Ruffalo is in ‘late stage talks’ to be the new Bruce Banner and Incredible Hulk in The Avengers. That’s all the info we’ve got right now, but I love the idea. I’ve enjoyed Ruffalo’s work for a long time, and while his basic mode is pretty much the polar opposite of The Avengers, I think he could be great fun. Think of his performance in The Brothers Bloom modulated by his serious but pulpy work in Shutter Island. Yeah, this may do nicely. More details as they come in.

UPDATE: THR says that the deal-making process for Ruffalo isn’t as far along as Deadline made it sound. According to the trade, an offer is out to Ruffalo, which he is considering, but he hasn’t met with Joss Whedon. THR says they may meet late this week or over the pre-Comic Con weekend.

Mark Ruffalo was in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. That’s enough for me. Sold.com It’s interesting to see as Marvel is scrambling like fuck to get someone cast. You just know their wet dreams involved being able to roll out the entire ensemble at ComiCon.

Edward Norton? No!

Joaquin Phoenix? No!

Mark Ruffalo? Maybe!