THE INCREDIBLE HULK director Louis Leterrier sat down with the good folks at HuffPo to discuss something or other, and eventually their conversation stumbled upon the director’s time with Marvel Studios. Besides a few tiny regrets (mostly concerning the cut suicide-attempt scene at the very beginning), there was nothing of too much interest, except for one thing…

“When people are asking me, because Mark Ruffalo is in this one, who’s the better of the Bruce Banners — both are great; both are fantastic — but I actually wanted to cast Mark Ruffalo as Hulk and Marvel was like “No, you should get Edward Norton because he’s more famous.” So you see what I am saying? They are the ones who wanted Edward — and I was thrilled to meet him and work with him. I wanted Mark Ruffalo. And they were like, “No, no, he just does smart, intellectual movies.” Which makes sense, then and there in his career. But that’s I how know him. We’ve stayed in touch and it’s why he said “absolutely” when I offered him the part in this one.”

Whoa… What?

Mark Ruffalo was Leterrier’s first choice for Hulk all the way back in 2008? Marvel could have saved a ton of heartache if they would have trusted their director all those years ago. Funny thing is… if I was in the exact same situation, I would have shot for Edward Norton, too. He seems like the perfect candidate for the role of Bruce Banner, but somehow, in some magical way, Ruffalo’s wavy haired take on the character is beyond perfect.

SOURCE: HuffPo