MTV recently caught up with writer/director/actor Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother Where Art Thou?) and picked his gamma-contaminated brain about reprising his role as Dr. Samuel Sterns in the rumored-to-be-happening sequel to this summer’s moderately successful Marvel reboot, The Incredible Hulk.
NOTE: The interview with Nelson was a follow-up to an interview MTV did with super-producer Gale Ann Hurd (The Terminator Trilogy, Hulk, Punisher: War Zone), in which Hurd made it clear that it is her intention to see Incredible Hulk 2 make it into theaters, ideally with all of the original cast in tow.
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So what do Hurd’s words mean for Tim Blake Nelson’s future? Last we saw Dr. Samuel Stern, he was seeing green after a beaker of Bruce Banner’s gamma-radiated blood spilled on his noggin. So if everything goes according to Hurd’s plan, expect Doc Stern to become the the next baddie in line to take on the Hulk, as the gamma-brained evil mastermind known as The Leader.
“I know Gale Ann was talking to you guys about that recently, and I liked hearing it,” beamed an enthusiastic Tim Blake Nelson when MTV spoke with him recently…”I already did [research into The Leader] when I was doing [Dr. Samuel] Sterns, because I felt that it would be helpful to lay in stuff as Sterns for what The Leader would be… So, that was all part of doing Sterns.”
Wow the man has been preparing for his moment in the darklight. And who wouldn’t be excited to step up from a supporting role onto center stage as the main villain in popular comic book franchise?
Tim Blake Nelson would play the twistedly brilliant Leader
Now that we know that Nelson is already prepared for a second outing as Hulk’s most iconic arch-foe, the question is where does that leave his nemesis-to-be Bruce Banner, who was played by actor Edward Norton?
Coincidentally, Nelson is currently at work doing post-production on a film called Leaves of Grass which he directed, and which stars… Edward Norton, in a dual role. Since the pair have been spending so much time together, Nelson had this bit of insight to offer:
“We talked about [‘Hulk’] a little bit, yeah; we made some jokes about it,” Nelson remembered. “It’s all good, and I really do hope [the sequel] happens, for all sorts of reasons.
…I feel Edward and I are well-suited for one another. It’s really fun collaborating with him, and he made these characters [in ‘Hulk’ and ‘Leaves’] better,” explained Nelson… I’m signed on to do ‘Hulk 2’ and ‘3’ whether Edward’s there or not, so it’s not even up to me,” he explained. “When I agreed to do ‘Hulk,’ I signed off for two sequels, so it’s a moot question. I certainly hope Edward is on the sequel - but that’s up to Marvel and Edward.”
So really we’re getting the same answer everyone has given about Edward Norton reprising his role as Bruce Banner: Hope he does, not sure if he will.
Regardless of Norton’s involvement, it looks like The Incredible Hulk 2 is gaining steam and that it will have The Leader as its main villain. Guess that’s all fans can ask for at this point.
Do you think The Leader will make a more intriguing villain than the Abomination? Or are you a person who has to have Ed Norton back on board before you can support The Incredible Hulk 2? Let us know how you feel about this one.
Source: Latino Review via MTV and you can read Gale Ann Hurd’s full interview here
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20 Comments
cool article and sweet pic
I really hope they push forward with a sequel for the Hulk - he certainly deserves it. I also think it’s important for Ed Norton to reprise the role, a third Bruce Banner in just a few years would be rediculous.
Yahoo for a Hulk sequel!!I don’t care who’s in it. It’ll most likely be post-Avengers. Bummer, but I’m just glad to see it happening.
This is very cool news.
Not sure how I feel about it. Incredible Hulk was indeed cool, but I’m still up-in-the-air about a sequel. Maybe I need to re-watch the reboot, since I saw it once in theaters, way back when it opened in mid-June 08.
I’d rather see Thor, Cap, IM 2 and Avengers first, which I have to anyway, lol. Heck, I’d love to see Ant-Man get his own solo film before Incredible Hulk 2. Again, maybe I need to re-watch the first one. (Not counting the Ang Lee version.)
Sigh, just give me Hulk in Avengers!
heath
Yeah, I agree with Heath, I would prefer to see Ant-Man get a solo film.
Plus, I see that some people haven’t gotten the hint that some sequels are a bad idea.
Loved ‘Incredible Hulk’, it was a lot of fun. Norton did a stand up job and wish some of the deleted love triangle scene made it to the theatrical cut.YES, Norton will be back (if Marvel wills it) because of a multiple film contract he signed that very similar to the contract RDJ had to sign, stated by the producer of IH. I’m hoping IH2 in 2012 or 2013 at the latest.
I admit my bias for the Hulk because he is my favorite Marvel character. I would pay to see him in a theater no matter what. I know that IH barely squeezed past the breaking even mark and I know, in business sense, that doesn’t really justify a sequel. In general, sequels normally don’t make as much money, but superhero movies seem to be different, at least in recent years. I know the original Superman and Batman movies gradually took in less at the box office. The obvious example is Batman begins and TDK, but I believe(I may be wrong on the numbers)the X-men and Spiderman sequels also made more than the previous films. Even the Fantastic Four sequel was better and it was my least favorite. All said, everyone has a favorite character that deserves a good movie, so it’s cool to wait in order to let them have their shot. I remember when Superman was the only comic book hero to make it on screen and none of the others were even close. That really sucked.So if you grew up reading comics, the last six years or so have been great and the next six look even better. Sorry to take up so much space.
I meant BB and TDK is the best example of superhero sequels doing better than the previous films.
Aside from the changed origin, I think Norton’s Hulk hit a home run. He just proved he can pound super-strong baddies into the ground, now he should take on someone super-smart. After that, if some team is stupid enough to take him on (ha ha), then let’s see that too. Hulk is one of my favorite characters, but he is also one of the easiest to mess up (right, Ang LEE?)
IH was as good a version of the Hulk as could have been done on screen. The character premise is very gritty and visceral. I thought Ang Lee and crew tried too hard to make a movie that was “cool” and fancy. Hence all the multiple scene shots, scenes bleeding into the next, dizzying flashbacks and giant poodles. All examples of over the top, stylistic methods that work with Asian style action movies. Great for Godzilla but not so much for the Hulk. I did enjoy the fight scenes with the military. They were as close to the comic as anything in that film. I just hate when “visionary” producers and directors take whatever styles and techniques that are “hip” at the time and force fit them onto whatever movie they’re doing. Just put together a solid script and solid acting and let the special effects engineers supplement it instead of letting them run the whole thing. Boneheads!!!!
@Wes
You’re absolutely right. Its a hell of a time to be a comic fan. With Marvels slate of upcoming hits (IM2, I’m lookn’ at you!) and DC’s renewed enthusiasm after TDK, the future is bright.
Sorry to say though, that I don’t think the future is as bright for Hulk. Two medicore (money wise, I thought the Norton film was good) films later, it may be a long time before we get another Hulk. If IH had done better at the box office, we’d see one a lot sooner. But Hulk had two chances to catch on, and it hasn’t really yet. So give me more Iron Man, give Thor a shot, Ant-Man with Edgar Wright sounds good (as long as Simon Pegg doesn’t play Pym!) and even give me War Machine or even Luke Cage before I see another Hulk. I’m tired of big green.
What I really want, is to see Marvel snatch back the Fantastic Four from FOX in 2012 and do a proper FF flick. Or maybe some Doom vs IM action!!! Now that would be bad ass!
True enough. I can’t be too bummed with getting two Hulk movies plus a part in the Avengers. There are plenty of characters without movies. Does anyone know when all of the loaned out characters return to Marvel? I hate seeing a studio with the rights to a character and doing nothing with it.
Marvel didn’t loan out these characters. The deal is, if the movies fail, they lose ALL rights, including comic rights, to their $$$ backer, Merril Lynch:
http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2005/05/02/marvel-really-wants-to-produce.aspx
However, this site only mentions they’ll lose movie rights. But I don’t think anyone needs to worry–Iron Man made a TON of money and Hulk did well.
heath
Great news,,,too much was hinted at in last movie as to what might show up in future films…it would have been rotten if no other movie happened.
As for the Leader..brilliant character,just don’t do a Dr Doom in the FF movies and ruin the character with crappy script.
Leader will open the doors to massive robots and villians like Rhino and I’m sure Abomination’ll be back!!!
I liked FF2, but I hated when Dr. Doom suddenly had bad one-liners at the end. Really? Do all villains suddenly have to spout that crap?! Ugh… I mean, if the villain did it throughout, sure, but c’mon.
heath
@heath
I hated that too. Thats why I can’t wait for Marvel to get the rights back so they can do a proper FF movie! Doom is such a great villain, and he was sorely mis-used!
I’d rather see MODOK. I knew with his head morphing, Doc Stern would become one of the two.
Dr Samuel Sterns IS the leader, so I doubt if the movie went to the trouble of naming the doctor Samuel Sterns they would let him become MODOK.
That said, I’ve always liked MODOK and I think he would be a kick ass villain for an Iron Man flick. I’d like to see him team with Grey Gargoyle. That would be cool for IM 3-4 maybe.
The leader would be a cool villain for Hulk because it would present such a different dynamic. Brains vs Braun. An age old question. But I think we will have years to debate this before we actually see what happens to the Hulk.
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