Recasting can be a tricky thing, as Iron Man director Jon Favreau knows since he replaced Terrence Howard with Don Cheadle as Jim Rhodes for Iron Man 2. While he was promoting Aliens & Cowboys at Comic-Con, he was asked about the decision to cast Mark Ruffalo in place of Edward Norton as Hulk for Avengers.
“It’s tricky,” said Favreau. “I know Edward, and I dig the guy’s talent tremendously. He’s always been a very great guy . . . I’m sure that however this comes out, it’s going to be something that’s amenable to both the filmmaker and the studio. I know that we faced the challenge of recasting with Don Cheadle and Terrence Howard, and although I think breaking continuity is always a challenge and should be avoided whenever possible, it is the reality of the movie business that sometimes things don’t work out.”
While Norton’s absence is sad, the show must go on. Favreau said he’d make himself available to Thor director Kenneth Branagh and The Avengers director Joss Whedon for whatever they might need. “I’m here because of my success with Marvel for the most part,” he said. “I’ve felt tremendous creative support, and as they cut their teeth as a studio, I cut my teeth as a big filmmaker. So we’ve grown a lot together and I am completely invested in the success of that studio. I really want to see the Iron Man stuff play out really well through these other movies and hopefully collaborate in the future.”
Source: IGN
