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There were a number of issues with Norton that were not apparent until the movie was in production, but their collective impact meant that Norton continuing in the role beyond that first appearance was pretty much untenable from the beginning. In the end, as we know, the role was given to Ed Norton, and in many ways, it became one of the few casting missteps made by Marvel over the last 13 years. In fact, at the time The Incredible Hulk was due to film, the second X-Files movie, I Want to Believe, was already in production in roughly the same location in Canada, and there was consideration given to delaying Hulk’s shooting just to accommodate Duchovny’s X-Files shoot. Of course, Duchovny had experience with genre movies, having appeared in big screen outings of The X-Files and Evolution, and already had a huge legion of fans behind him at the time, and that was a big part Marvel’s interest in both him and Norton.
![the x files movie the x files movie](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/x-files/images/3/3c/Joseph_Crissman_cries_tears_of_blood.jpg)
When Marvel was casting the role of Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk, both Norton and Duchovny were the two names that were in contention for the role. Of course while Norton dipped out after just the one movie, making way for arguably the best iteration of Bruce Banner ever put on screen, it seems that there was another name in the early running to play the good doctor even before Norton and that was The X-Files star David Duchovny. Considering his popularity and importance to the MCU, it is still hard to believe that Mark Ruffalo was not the first actor to portray the Hulk in the Infinity Saga, with Ed Norton having played the not-so-jolly green giant first in 2008’s second MCU film, The Incredible Hulk.