"It will be as different as The Incredible Hulk was from Ang Lee's Hulk in terms of its look and design, but it is Hulk. The image we released on the last day of Comic-Con -- which got a tremendous amount of attention and I was very pleased about -- is a very good representation of what he's going to look like," Feige told the Times. "Hulk is Hulk. We're not going to reinvent the wheel."
Well, almost. Based on the concept art, this version of Hulk will bear more of a resemblance to Ruffalo than the previous incarnations did to Eric Bana and Edward Norton.
"It was something we actively avoided before. Hulk was Hulk, he's not any one actor and Hulk should look like Hulk. It was like Iron Man's armor, in a way, it wouldn't change depending on the actor wearing it. But we've taken a different approach because Hulk is Banner and, frankly, we came to question our approach. Why are we not doing it this way? So we did a few designs that put Ruffalo into it, and we immediately saw how much more you feel for the creature."
Fair points -- and one you'll have to take Feige's word on since the only image of Ruffalo as Hulk is the concept art -- but it raises the question: why not just use practical effects to create Hulk? Maybe get a giant body builder, paint his skin green, and affix Ruffalo's face to the body in Skinny Chris Evans fashion during post-production. Otherwise, it seems like Hulk will look like a cartoon Mark Ruffalo. Will that kind of massive effect fit into the quasi-real world of superheroes that Marvel has built up since Iron Man?
Put another way: Will The Avengers make you believe a man can Hulk? Stay tuned...
ยท 'The Avengers' and the Hulk: Kevin Feige explains a new approach [LAT/Hero Complex]