^Shrek?

When mumbly actor Mark Ruffalo was hired to take over the Hulk reins from Edward Norton in Marvel Studio’s The Avengers, it was assumed he’d only appear as a drowsy-looking Bruce Banner. Now he’s let it slip that the Hulk will appear like he just woke from a catnap as well. Ruffalo tells Vulture:

“I’m really excited. No one’s ever played the Hulk exactly, they’ve always done CGI. They’re going to do the Avatar stop-action, stop-motion capture. So I’ll actually play the Hulk. That’ll be fun.”

Stop-motion capture? Is that like taking a photo?

This should be interesting to see. Ruffalo seems too laidback to pull off the Hulk’s rage, but I think he could surprise us. Then again, he’s never performed in such an effects-heavy film before, and has no experience acting against nothing. Unless, of course, you count Jennifer Aniston.

It sucks we won’t see Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in The Avengers, especially the way it went down. The recasting has been well-covered and Norton even told MTV he laughs about it now. The good news it, it sounds like Mark Ruffalo playing Banner in The Avengers doesn’t rule out another solo Hulk film that could continue with Norton.

“No, I don’t rule out anything,” Norton said while promoting Stone at FantasticFest. “As I think was amply demonstrated, I think a lot of those things on the other side of the table are big business, which I respect. I don’t have any urgency about it one way or the other.”

No rush, of course. Certainly Edward Norton will do fine in his career. It’s
good to hear Marvel hasn’t told him they won’t continue a solo Hulk franchise.

“I couldn’t say,” Norton hedged. “I’m a fan of those films. I hate when they screw them up so I hope they do it right.”

Maybe Marvel’s hedging their bets. They had some needs for The Avengers but people liked The Incredible Hulk, so they could always alternate. “I’ve got so many things I’m working on that I’m interested in. People have been completely great about the film we made and I’m happy about that. I have nothing to complain about.”

For those of you who think the Bangladeshi Incredible Hulk was the last word in foreign made Hulk knock-offs, prepare to have your pathetic world shattered. Behold, the Indian version of The Hulk (a.k.a. Athisayan), from director Vinayan T. Rajendarum.

The clip below depicts a ten-year-old boy with Hulk-like superpowers who goes on a murderous rampage. He then commits suicide by walking into the ocean while his family looks on in horror. Pretty dark stuff for a film that bills itself as a family comedy. But in all fairness, it’s still funnier than The Back-Up Plan and When in Rome combined.

Watch the Indian Hulk lay the smack down after the jump…

Bollywood ‘Hulk’ Is A Very Pissed-Off 10-Year-Old – Watch more horror

Today the Internet has lovingly delivered us this trailer for HALKa, the Bangladeshi attempt at capturing the legend of the Incredible Hulk. I don’t believe that, "Say whaaaaaaaaa?!," begins to cover it.

This trailer tells the classic story of the Hulk‘s origin: being publicly sodomized with a pick-axe by bullies to the point that Bruce Banner invents an Incredible Hulk potion using beakers and Doogie Howser’s computer. He then goes on to fight his greatest enemy, Guy With Bicycle With Guns On It. Whatever, the trailer looks amazing. It’s even more trippy than Enter The Void.

Just see for yourself after the jump…

Bangladeshi ‘Hulk’ looks Stupidly Awesome – Watch more horror

Here’s a rumor from the "so stupid it might be true" department. “Reliable sources” are claiming that rapper Joaquin Phoenix, who actually started out as an actor, may replace Ed Norton as the Incredible Hulk in The Avengers.

On Friday, Marvel started a war of words, claiming that it dropped Norton from the project in order to find "an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members.” Given that description, is Joaquin Phoenix really the guy you want?

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t doubt the creativity of a man who’s spent the past year looking like a drug-addled version of Judge Roy Bean. But considering he can barely make it through a one-on-one interview with David Letterman, does Phoenix really "embody" the "collaborative spirit" you’re looking for? Well, does it, Marvel? ANSWER ME? (Cinema Blend)

Meeee-ow! Looks like we’ve got ourselves a good old-fashioned catfight! Except instead of two hot women scratching and clawing, we’ve got an agent from William Morris pissing and moaning about some dork at a comic book company. Actually, that doesn’t sound like a catfight at all. It sounds a whole lot sexier!

On Friday, Marvel announced that Edward Norton, who clashed with the studio during the making of The Incredible Hulk, will not be part of The Avengers. The press release stated that the decision was not monitary, but was instead “rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members.” For those of you who don’t speak Hollywood, that roughly translates to "go f**k yourself, you insufferable twit."

Not one to take things lying down, Norton responded like any other red-blooded male, and quickly had his agent, Brian Swardstrom, issue a strongly worded rebuttal. Swardstrom attacked Marvel head on, using big words like defamatory, mean spirited and accusatory. That’s right, accusatory!

I haven’t seen a war of words like this since Biggie and Tupac. If cooler heads don’t prevail, I fear someone might get their glasses broken, or maybe even work themselves up into an asthmatic frenzy. (Collider)

Read the strongly worded letter from Edward Norton’s agent in its entirety after the jump.

“This offensive statement from Kevin Feige at Marvel is a purposefully misleading, inappropriate attempt to paint our client in a negative light. Here are the facts: two months ago, Kevin called me and said he wanted Edward to reprise the role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers. He told me it would be his fantasy to bring Edward on stage with the rest of the cast at ComiCon and make it the event of the convention. When I said that Edward was definitely open to this idea, Kevin was very excited and we agreed that Edward should meet with Joss Whedon to discuss the project. Edward and Joss had a very good meeting (confirmed by Feige to me) at which Edward said he was enthusiastic at the prospect of being a part of the ensemble cast. Marvel subsequently made him a financial offer to be in the film and both sides started negotiating in good faith. This past Wednesday, after several weeks of civil, uncontentious discussions, but before we had come to terms on a deal, a representative from Marvel called to say they had decided to go in another direction with the part. This seemed to us to be a financial decision but, whatever the case, it is completely their prerogative, and we accepted their decision with no hard feelings.

We know a lot of fans have voiced their public disappointment with this result, but this is no excuse for Feige’s mean spirited, accusatory comments. Counter to what Kevin implies here, Edward was looking forward to the opportunity to work with Joss and the other actors in the Avengers cast, many of whom are personal friends of his. Feige’s statement is unprofessional, disingenuous and clearly defamatory. Mr. Norton talent, tireless work ethic and professional integrity deserve more respect, and so do Marvel’s fans.

Brian Swardstrom

WME”