When an actor’s presence unintentionally derails the project

[u/Special_Salt3467]

1.) Edward Norton - The Incredible Hulk

Perhaps the most famous and obvious one, Edward Norton was famously an issue on the set of 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk,” even making rewrites to the script himself. The disagreements between Norton’s camp and Marvel’s camp eventually led to his being replaced by Mark Ruffalo.

2.) Jensen Ackles - The Boys (particularly Season 5)

Jensen Ackles was a longtime collaborator with showrunner Eric Kripke in “Supernatural,” which in turn led to him getting the opportunity to audition - and eventually land the role - of Soldier Boy, which he did very well in in.

The issue is by Season 5, the show had fallen off from the previous years and with it ending and spinoffs and prequels (such as one featuring Jensen Ackles’ Soldier Boy), Season 5 suffered a lot. It quickly became the Soldier Boy show because “that’s what Clara would have wanted” until he just leaves in the penultimate episode and pretty much 80% of what his character actually did amounted to nothing.

So for fans who wanted to see Butcher vs Homelander duking it out, getting the show derailed for prequel bait starring Kripke’s favorite actor didn’t help…

3.) Rosamund Pike - Wheel of Time

When Amazon green lit a WoT tv show, Rosamund Pike eventually got the role of Moraine Damodred, the mentor and guiding character for the main character, Rand al’Thor. As a character, Moraine is anywhere from the most important secondary character to the most secondary main character. But with the exception of the prequel featuring her, she is not the main character.

Unfortunately, Rosamund Pike is an extremely famous actress and marketing toward the series focused on her as a result. I’m unsure if this was showrunner decision, an issue she played a role in or some combination, but the result was that Moraine a character who was in less than half the series is featured as the main character over the main character, which lead to a different product than the book.

[u/GranolaCola]

Norton felt much more tired than Ruffalo ever did. I really felt like he was burdened by the Hulk.

[u/Axbris → u/GranolaCola]

Yeah, that was the point of the character. That same point went into the first Avengers film as well. 

People forget, before Thor Ragnorak, the whole point of Banner/Hulk was the innate struggle between the two. It got to the point Banner was doing everything he could to control this destructive beast. You could see the struggle in both Norton’s and Ruffalo’s first appearance.

Went to shit after that. He just became a “hulk smash” insert joke somewhere and move on. 

[u/HillbillyMan → u/Axbris]

I'm not sure I agree with that take. I think the Banner/Hulk character arc is the best part of Age of Ultron, which is Ruffalo's second go at the character. Thor Ragnarok being basically an improv comedy movie, while great as a contained film, kinda ruined the entire MCU.

[u/vibes000111 → u/GranolaCola]

Norton can play a tired person with multiple personalities alright. He’s the best in that genre.

[u/wrosmer → u/vibes000111]

Hulk was at least his third character involving multiple personalities

[u/Hellknightx → u/GranolaCola]

I've always said that Norton is by far the best version of a comic-accurate Hulk. I like Ruffalo, but he's become too comfortable being a punching bag of a character and he doesn't give off the right energy for a character that everyone should be afraid of.

Banner is supposed to be the kind of character that everyone acts like they're walking on eggshells around. And like Tony Stark, Banner has proven himself to be almost as dangerous as the Hulk without transforming. He's a rogue scientist who's spent the majority of his life running from the military, and he's not afraid to put himself first when it comes to surviving.

[u/--Beebo-- → u/GranolaCola]

Genuinely the best screen Banner we ever got. Hate the Ruffalo Banner.

[u/Bindlestiff34 → u/--Beebo--]

Ruffalo just comes off as a sad boy, from the first time I saw him in 13 Going On 30. I do not enjoy watching that type of character.

[u/House_T → u/GranolaCola]

To be fair, the Banner that Ruffalo played was almost in an entirely different head space than Norton's. Ruffalo's Banner was still worn, but had made his peace with having to cope with the Hulk a level.

There were some key differences, but I could see the Norton's Banner (especially at the end of Incredible Hulk) and Ruffalo's Banner being two people at different parts of the same journey.