‘The Incredible Hulk’s Louis Leterrier Wanted to Direct ‘Iron Man’

‘The Incredible Hulk’s director Louis Leterrier Originally Wanted to Make ‘Iron Man’ for Marvel

The director also discusses his ‘Hulk’ soundtrack plans and star Edward Norton’s plans for the movie.

(Left) Vin Diesel and Director Louis Leterrier on the set of 'Fast X.' (Right) Robert Downey Jr. in 'Iron Man.'

Preview:

‘The Incredible Hulk’ director Louis Leterrier discussed the movie on a new podcast.
Leterrier reveals he’d hoped to direct ‘Iron Man’.
He also talks about the tension between Marvel and star Edward Norton over the tone.

It rarely makes the list of Marvel fans’ favorite MCU entries, but ‘The Incredible Hulk’ has earned something of a reassessment in recent years.

And it was infamous for having a troubled history, as star Edward Norton clashed with the Marvel team.

The film’s director, Louis Leterrier has offered his own thoughts on a new podcast spin-off from ‘Happy. Sad. Confused’, hosted by Josh Horowitz. Titled ‘Watch-A-Long’, the first episode features a blend of Leterrier interview about the movie and director’s commentary.

Iron Man

"Heroes aren't born. They're built."

PG-132 hr 6 minMay 2nd, 2008

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Louis Leterrier on ‘Iron Man’

(L to R) Vin Diesel, Director Louis Leterrier and Rita Moreno on the set of 'Fast X.'

While Leterrier landed the job on ‘The Incredible Hulk’, what he originally had hoped to make was ‘Iron Man’, which famously ended up in the hands of Jon Favreau and helped kicked off the whole MCU.

Here’s what he said on the subject:

“They had this big poster in the lobby and said, ‘Well, pick a superhero, that you’d like,’ and I went, [points finger at imaginary wall], this guy, Tony Stark, Iron Man. That’s what I wanna do. They were like, ‘Great, great, great.’ I go back home and literally, three weeks later they called me, and they said, ‘We’ve got great news, we’d like you to direct a movie for us.’ I was like, ‘Iro–‘ and they were like, ‘Hulk.’ ‘Hulk’? Ang Lee did it three years before they gave me the call and I thought about it and realized, my favorite movies growing up were ‘Frankenstein,’ the original ‘King Kong,’ werewolf movies, and the ‘Hulk’ TV show being so formative, so I was like, ‘Of course.’ They saw what I couldn’t see.”

As it turns out, Leterrier had other close calls with MCU characters –– he met about making ‘Thor’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ but didn’t connect with either. He did throw his hat into the ring for ‘The Avengers’, though he ultimately did not get a meeting on that one.

Leterrier talks Edward Norton

Edward Norton in 'The Incredible Hulk.' Photo: Marvel Studios.

Infamously troubled thanks to the strong opinions of star Edward Norton –– who wrote new dialogue and even submitted a darker cut of the movie that Marvel ultimately chose to reject –– the movie sounds like it was a nightmare assignment. But according to Leterrier, he had a good relationship with Norton.

The Incredible Hulk

"You'll like him when he's angry."

PG-131 hr 54 minJun 12th, 2008

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Here’s what he said about their collaboration:

“I think the whole way, we were all very much in lock step. It just got tense at the end. And I think at the end it was very tense about the tone and the level of humor, although Edward is very funny and, all is friends are comedians. He’s an extremely funny guy. But I think [Edward] was very right in defending the seriousness of the movie. You have to remember it was the mid 2010s, ‘The Dark Knight’ had such an impact on superhero movies.”

You can see and hear the whole conversation here: