Edward Norton's Hulk Recast Acknowledged By Marvel... 10 Years Late

Warning: This post contains SPOILERS for She-Hulk episode 2!

Marvel just acknowledged Edward Norton's Hulk recasting in The Avengers with Mark Ruffalo taking over the role, as Edward Norton no longer wanted to be part of the franchise.

The MCU's Hulk recasting is the most significant example of recasting for Marvel Studios. Phase 1 also included the notable Rhodey recasting, with Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard for MCU character recasts, including getting rid of Edward Norton's Hulk in favor of Mark Ruffalo.

10 years after Mark Ruffalo's Hulk debut in The Avengers, he is still playing the character in She-Hulk, and Marvel has finally used this as a chance to reference Edward Norton's Hulk recast. Near the end of She-Hulk episode 2, Hulk and Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) are talking about how Bruce and Abomination (Tim Roth) mended fences after The Incredible Hulk. This is when Hulk says, "I'm a different person now, literally." Jen even breaks the fourth wall to laugh after the comment. Just like that, Marvel finally acknowledged that they recast Edward Norton's Hulk, and it only took them a decade to do so.

Phase 4 Can Finally Repair Hulk's World After Edward Norton's Recasting

Mark Ruffalo and Edward Norton as Hulk in the MCU

Now that Marvel has acknowledged Edward Norton's recasting, MCU Phase 4 can finally begin repairing Hulk's world. The Incredible Hulk set up a great future for Hulk and the film's ing characters, but Marvel totally abandoned those plans after losing Norton. In fact, Mark Ruffalo's Hulk has never interacted with any Incredible Hulk character (not including Tony Stark). The MCU has only brought back Thunderbolt Ross and Abomination, but neither have directly interacted with Ruffalo. The closest Marvel has come to merging Hulk's worlds together was Tony Stark's Avengers: Endgame funeral, as Thunderbolt Ross and Hulk technically were in the same scene.

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law could be the start of Marvel changing how they've separated Hulk from his corner of the MCU. It would be a real shame if Ruffalo's Smart Hulk and Roth's Abomination do not share scenes in the Disney+ series or another Marvel project down the line. The often rumored World War Hulk MCU movie could also be a chance to bring back Liv Tyler's Betty Ross and make her Red She-Hulk, while Tim Blake Nelson's The Leader could return too. Having any of them interact with Mark Ruffalo's Hulk would help the character's story come full circle after Edward Norton's recasting.

New episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law release on Thursdays on Disney+.