Jon Favreau has confirmed that he'll be executive producing The Avengers, Marvel's 2012 superhero team-up, but has flatly discounted rumours that he'll be directing. "You need somebody who has the perspective of all the different franchises to bring them together," he told MTV. "I have the myopic vision of just knowing and loving Iron Man." He also confirmed that Edward Norton won't be in it as The Incredible Hulk. Not that much confirmation was needed, but the actor had recently been quoted as saying he thought the green behemoth would make a good Avengers adversary, leading to a certain amount of speculation that he was open for returning. Anyway, back to Favreau: "I'll definitely have input and a say," he says, "but they'll have to find a different director because I'm not going to be available." Interesting that, because it suggests he already knows what he's doing after directing Cowboys vs Aliens, the sci-fi Western starring Robert Downey Jr that the pair are embarking on after Iron Man 2. We're only currently aware of one other upcoming project for Favreau, in the form of the Sony Pictures animation Neanderthals (where he's credited as writer and producer). What does he know that he's not telling?

Owen Williams

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RE: Norton states return is all down to his schedule...
I liked Incredible Hulk and liked Norton in it. ... Read More Workshed About me
12:04, 16 October 2009 | Report This Post
RE: Norton states return is all down to his schedule...
Hmm. From that sounds like Norton would be up for a return. Maybe they're worried about how much creative involvement he would demand cos he does like to get involved.... ... Read More CORLEONE About me
11:55, 16 October 2009 | Report This Post
Norton states return is all down to his schedule...
Make your own mind up... http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/09/28/exclusive-edward -norton-says-potential-return-to-hulk-role-is-purely-a- function-of-time/ To me, that doesn't sound like someone who walked from the franchise as soon as it wrapped. ... Read More BlackIceBoy About me
19:34, 15 October 2009 | Report This Post
RE: The Increble Hulk was shit, keep Norton away
SpiderBat, you suck! Can't even type with an IQ of minus 12! ... Read More SpiderBat About me
18:53, 15 October 2009 | Report This Post
The Increble Hulk was shit, keep Norton away
Reading comments here I'm so glad I'm not a zero-movie-taste geekahoid with an IQ of minus 11. ... Read More SpiderBat About me
18:50, 15 October 2009 | Report This Post
please be wrong
from what i have read from other sites mtv etc favrau was reffering to iron man 2 even going as far to say it was nice that the fans kept that rumour alive lets hope empire is wrong for once. Norton was brilliant as banner and the hulk. i thought it was brilliant definitely up there with iron man. pity letterier wasn't happy with it but if he was it would probably be as bad and corny as transporter 2. ... Read More phil blakeman About me
17:23, 15 October 2009 | Report This Post
bryan singer to direct
Just keep john favreau as producer and bring in bryan singer to direct cause with the two xmen films under his belt he knows how to use lots of superhero's in one movie and as for norton well their must be some reason for not wanting to return it might be cause he wont have as much control over his character (hulk) this time around! ... Read More Jubby About me
16:05, 15 October 2009 | Report This Post
Actually a couple of other sites are saying...
He was referring to a Bruce Banner cameo in Iron Man 2, not necessarilly that Norton wouldn't be a part of Avengers - not exactly clear in the comments though is it? Anyway, makes me wonder what Branagh is cooking up for Thor as I'm guessing Favs may well have seen some pre production art or something. Louis LeTerrier has said before that he saw some Captain America pre production work when he was working on Hulk so perhaps Favs has seen Thor stuff and thought "No way that's going to wor... Read More Marwood About me
15:55, 15 October 2009 | Report This Post
Just as I feared
If there's one thing we learnt from The Italian Job is that Norton hates making movies simply because he's contractually obliged to. Therefore I always had the feeling he wouldn't stick around for The Avengers, which is a shame 'cause I really liked him as Bruce Banner. The only other actor I can think of physically resembling Banner is maybe David Duchovny, who I thought was impressive in Californication. As for Favreau tough luck, you can scrap Ant-Man but you definetly cannot discard Thor. ... Read More mighty mick About me
13:30, 15 October 2009 | Report This Post
Norton's not back? For real?
Well that sucks, not sure I'll really believe it until Marvel throw an Avengers press release out in the future because the film is still far away. Anyway, would have been interesting for Favs to tackle Avengers but now he's out of the running we can continue to rampantly speculate just who could take the gig. Favs has said before anyway that he wasn't comfortable with Thor being in it so I kind of saw this coming. ... Read More Marwood About me
12:53, 15 October 2009 | Report This Post
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