Joaquin Phoenix to star as The Hulk?

The corpse of Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner is barely cold, yet the internet has reliably offered up a viable replacement to star in Joss Whedon‘s The Avengers. CHUD are reporting that Marvel has offered the role of Banner/The Hulk to Joaquin Phoenix. I guess this means the faux-retirement is over!

Phoenix wishes a confusing farewell to the recently ousted Norton.

According to CHUD’s source, Phoenix is taking the time to consider the implications of abandoning his regular art-house fare and taking a leading role in a major blockbuster.

CHUD go out of their way to point out that despite their source’s trustworthiness, this is still just a rumour.

However, Marvel promised a “name” actor would join Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson and company in The Avengers. And it is expected that the new Hulk will be revealed at Comic-Con, which is just around the corner. Who’s to say that Marvel won’t move quickly to replace Norton? Who’s to say they weren’t offering the role to other actors before officially giving Norton the boot?

Regardless of this rumour’s validity, I think Phoenix is a great choice for Banner. Hopefully we’ll have some official news to report from Marvel in the coming days.

I only hope that this doesn’t interfere at all with Phoenix’s insane-sounding fake-rapper documentary!

Discuss: Don’t you just wish someone would publish that behind-the-scenes expose of all these Marvel casting dramas already?