Marvel's Kevin Feige Objected To Casting One Hulk Actor
With the release of "Iron Man" in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was officially up and running. Thus, the second installment in what became a sprawling big and small-screen franchise, "The Incredible Hulk," arrived that same year to keep the momentum going. Though the film doesn't have the best reputation among MCU fans all these years later, there's no denying how stacked the cast is. Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson, and William Hurt are among the stars that bring the feature to life, along with one actor Marvel Studios mastermind Kevin Feige wasn't initially keen on.
In the book "MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios" by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and Gavin Edwards, Feige wasn't sold on casting Tim Roth as Emil "Abomination" Blonsky. It's explained that he thought the film needed a much bigger name in the role, while director Louis Leterrier felt his strengths as a character actor could benefit the film as a whole. Eventually, both Roth and Leterrier managed to win Feige over, with him even going on to thank Roth for convincing him that his casting was the right move.
Surprisingly, Roth is now one of the few "Incredible Hulk" cast members who have returned to the MCU beyond the 2008 feature.
Tim Roth has brought the Abomination back into the MCU fold in the last couple of years
In the aftermath of "The Incredible Hulk," the title character and his corner of the MCU were very much pushed to the side. The film never received a proper sequel. Mark Ruffalo took over for Edward Norton in Dr. Bruce Banner's next chronological MCU appearance, "The Avengers," and all that came after it. However, that's not to say that "The Incredible Hulk" hasn't left a lasting impact on the wider MCU. Several actors from the film, including Tim Roth, have returned in other projects, and others will reemerge as well down the road.
Despite the initial resistance to his casting, Roth returned to the role of Emil Blonsky via "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and later "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" over a decade after his MCU debut. His comeback came to fruition after William Hurt's Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross became a recurring MCU presence in productions like "Captain America: Civil War," "Avengers: Infinity War," and "Black Widow." In the near future, MCU fans can look forward to Tim Blake Nelson's reprisal of Samuel Sterns, aka the Leader, and Liv Tyler's return as Betty Ross in "Captain America: Brave New World."
Now that he's back in the MCU fold, time will tell if fans can look forward to more appearances from Tim Roth — the Abomination actor who almost never was — in the coming years.