As much as we don’t want to admit it, Mark Ruffalo won’t be able to play the Hulk forever. Age and other projects are going to start to get in the way of him playing Dr. Bruce Banner and at some point he will respectfully just step aside. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if after Avengers “Infinity War Part 1 and 2”, he decides to step away from the role. Marvel is going to have a gigantic void to fill and will have to make sure that whomever they cast is perfect for the role. Marvel jumped the gun once before and now Edward Norton is not allowed within a 1,000 ft of a Marvel movie. With the thought of Marvel pulling a “Norton”, I put this question out to the folks on Twitter.
Okay-tweeps- In a world where Mark Ruffalo walked away from being the Hulk.. who would you recast as Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk? #Marvel
— Dewey Singleton (@mrsingleton) August 2, 2015
I received some interesting responses like this one.
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Who knew that the real Tom Hanks actually cares so much about this issue that he sent in his choice.
Here are some real options that were suggested via twitter.
David Duchovny-
@mrsingleton I always thought David Duchovny would make a good Bruce Banner. Still do.he would be a good choice.
— almost that time. (@RomeRoss15) August 2, 2015
David Duchovny is a tremendous actor but he isn’t close to who I would envision as Dr. Bruce Banner. Not only is age not on his side but Duchovny comes off as smug on screen which is not who Dr. Banner is. Remember, The Incredible Hulk doesn’t want to be the green monster and all he truly wants is to be a doctor that helps the world. I just don’t think that David Duchovny could pull this off.
Justin Bartha and Zachary Levi-
@mrsingleton @thedrunkendork @Thedrunkendead @GeeksDownUnder @geeknews2014 @monkeys_robots @Odd_Podcast Justin Bartha or Zachary Levi
— Nerd Rage @SDCC! (@TheNerdRagePod) August 2, 2015
I think that these suggestions have a ton of merit. Justin Bartha and Zachary Levi certainly have the right body type for the role and could deliver the needed duality on-screen to portray both roles. What both of the actors have that makes them even more appealing is that they have youth on their side. In any reboot Marvel will aim to go younger with the role of Dr. Bruce Banner so that they can tell an origin story for the Hulk. However, they are not the best pick in my opinion.
Miles Teller
@mrsingleton is like Miles Teller or someone like that, who can carry the hard science stuff and be a good opposition to the Hulk persona
— The Capes Crew (@CapesCrew) August 2, 2015
Miles Teller is the perfect choice to replace Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk. You need an actor with a certain amount of gravitas on the screen as the Hulk and could be believable as a young Dr. Banner and Teller fills both roles. Marvel would want to tell the origin story of a young Dr/ Banner/Incredible Hulk and having Miles in that role would allow Marvel to do just that. Plus this would give Marvel a chance to have him locked into the role for multiple years and not worry about their leading actor outgrowing the role anytime soon.
Some may disagree with the notion of Miles Teller as Dr. Banner because of this upcoming role as Mr. Fantastic in Fantastic Four but remember that this is years away from happening and we don’t know how successful that movie even will be. This wouldn’t be the 1st time a star played different super heroes over the span of a couple of years; Ryan Reynolds would be an example of that.
Conclusion –
I understand that any suggestion as to who would take over for Mark Ruffalo is merely speculation but as fans isn’t that what we do best? I may not have mentioned a name that you think would be perfect for the role so please tweet those to me and let’s start this debate.
