“It’s a great policy”: Edward Norton’s Demands for his $264 Million MCU Movie were so Imposing that a Franchise Wide Rule was Forced to be Established Afterwards

Directed by Louis Leterrier, Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton, was the second film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel was still in the early days of its development and was establishing its building blocks. It came right after Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, which was a smash hit for the franchise. However, compared to that, The Incredible Hulk did only moderately well, with tons of bad reviews from the critics. 

However, Marvel trusted their long-term vision and went ahead. While Norton dropped out of the project, the incredibly talented Mark Ruffalo was cast as the replacement, and the rest is history. In a behind-the-scenes book, MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios by Dave Gonzales, Gavin Edwards, and Joanna Robinson, it came out that Marvel imposed a franchise-wide policy that can be traced back to Edward Norton’s notoriously bad behavior on set. 

“We have a no-a**hole policy on our movies”: Marvel performer has this to say about Edward Norton

It is quite well known by now that Edward Norton wanted great control over the Hulk movies. He saw the character as the modern-day Prometheus and wanted it to reach the heights of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy as per his interview with CinemaBlend in 2019. 

Also Read: Deleted Scene From The Incredible Hulk Directly Ties 2008 Film To Chris Evans’ Entry in MCU

The book goes into great detail to bring forth Norton’s outrageous demands. From rewriting the script to wanting to play both Banner and Hulk, he was a problem from the beginning. However, the real fire started when Marvel was quite underwhelmed by his “ponderous” 135-minute cut of the film. So, they cut the movie to a 112-minute film over Norton’s visibly “loud” objections. An unnamed Marvel author even told the authors that Marvel has a “no-a**hole policy” for their movies, and producer Craig Kyle agreed by saying, “It’s a great policy.”

Also Read: Edward Norton is Not the Only One Who Will Never Return to MCU Movies Because of His Reported Beef With Kevin Feige

According to reports, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige still holds a grudge against Edward Norton for his insulting behavior, and he put him on the “do not call” list along with Joss Whedon.

Did Edward Norton truly behave badly on the set of The Incredible Hulk?

It is pretty evident that Edward Norton holds a grudge against Marvel for how The Incredible Hulk turned out. During a Comedy Central roast of Bruce Willis, he expressed his dissatisfaction with Marvel by saying:

“I thought we should try to make one Marvel movie that was as good as the worst Chris Nolan movie, but what the hell was I thinking?”

(Via. Slash Films)

Also Read: Brie Larson’s MCU Sequel Breams Chris Hemsworth’s Thor 2 and Edward Norton’s The Incredible Hulk Record Prior to its Release

However, it is not hard to believe that Norton would be difficult to work with. This is not the first time he has been accused of misusing his creative control. He took the final cut of American History X away from director Tony Kaye, who, as a result, disowned the movie. Brian Cox wrote about Edward Norton in his memoir as well and said that he found Norton difficult to work with.

“[Norton is] a nice lad but a bit of a pain in the arse because he fancies himself as a writer-director.” 

Based on that, it might not be completely untrue that Norton made Marvel more cautious about their upcoming projects. Even in MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, it says that “Marvel learned that top-down authority and creativity are not necessarily in conflict with each other.”

Edward Norton recently appeared in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City in 2023.