No More Hulk for Edward Norton?

It sounds like the only “green” we’ll see Edward Norton dealing with in the near future will be for his upcoming film Leaves of Grass.  Speaking at SXSW, Norton was asked about whether he would be doing a sequel to The Incredible Hulk.  For fans of his take on the Hulk, his answer is somewhat disappointing:

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I think it has got more to do with what Marvel is doing. I get the sense they have this grand vision of unspooling a lot of their characters and then starting to put them together. I think they can only do so many at a time. Obviously, they are doing Iron Man 2 and then getting some of the new ones out.”

I’ll be the first to admit The Incredible Hulk was by no means awesome, but it was pretty good entertainment.  If nothing else, Norton’s portrayal of Bruce Banner was great, so it’s unfortunate he may not return.  So, if he’s not on board for another Hulk film what about the other Marvel tie-in films like Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America?

Speaking with MTV, Norton said he won’t be filming scenes for either movie. While I can handle the fact he won’t be involved with Thor, the fact he won’t have anything to do with Captain America is unfortunate.  Seeing as how Marvel dabbled with the Super Soldier serum in The Incredible Hulk it would have been cool to see Norton, as Banner, in that film somehow.

While all this is not the best news, Norton did acknowledge that he has not ruled out an appearance in The Avengers film.  I’d really like to see him reprise his role as Banner in that film.  Mind you, even at this point in time, I think Marvel‘s ambition to have so many A-List actors in one film may require a budget larger than that of Avatar.  Here’s hoping they can make it work.