With Joss Whedon's The Avengers still two years away, we already know most of the prime-time players. There's Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth as Donald Blake/Thor, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Scarlett Johansson as Natalia Romanova/The Black Widow. The one position that has never been secure, however, has been Bruce Banner/The Hulk. Played by Edward Norton in the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, most have assumed that Marvel would pursue the actor to return for their massive superhero team-up film. Turns out that it isn't going to happen.

HitFlix is reporting that Marvel has officially stated that they will not be bringing back Norton for the role and instead will be casting an unknown. The article says that Norton recently met with Whedon to discuss The Avengers and while both left the meeting with enthusiasm about the project, Marvel has apparently decided to go in another direction. To put it succinctly, "it sounds like a deal could be made here, and simply wasn't."

This is, of course, a huge blow to both the film and Marvel fans in general. While it certainly wasn't the greatest superhero movie ever made, The Incredible Hulk was solid and Norton made for a great Banner. With Comic Con less than two weeks away and everyone involved with the film almost guaranteed to be present, the question will be asked and hopefully we'll be able to get some answers. Until then, all we can do is question aloud "why?"