Adrien Brody Has One Condition To Star In A Marvel Movie

Actors often have specific conditions to star in films — especially projects as big as a Marvel movie. Josh Brolin has made it clear that he won't reprise Thanos unless it makes sense to bring the Mad Titan back into the story. Chris Hemsworth only returned for "Thor: Love and Thunder" because director Taika Waititi was coming back as well.

Sometimes, the stipulations begin before a well-known actor has even taken a comic book-level gig. Case in point: Adrien Brody. The actor already has a strong track record across other genres. Over two decades ago, he starred in "The Pianist" (which remains the best music biopic of all time) and was still winning Oscars for his role as visionary postwar architect Lásló Tóth in "The Brutalist" within weeks of this writing. Yet, despite minor appearances in fantasy films like "King Kong," he has never actually landed a role in a straight-up superhero film. It's not for lack of trying. Brody was seriously considered for Christopher Nolan's Joker in "The Dark Knight" and was eager to land what he called the "dream role" before it went to Heath Ledger. In a recent interview with Josh Horowitz on Happy Sad Confused, Brody was asked if acting in a superhero film feels like unfinished business, to which he said:

"If I was presented with an opportunity to play an interesting character with a filmmaker that elevated me and gave me space to do something vastly different in that world, it sounds amazing. You have this wonderful machine, if we're talking about a Marvel movie — you have Disney and Marvel and all these giants that know all the technique and tools and stand behind these movies, and they've done something I think is enormous."

Brody ended his reply with the short and sweet version of his condition:

"People love them. Who wouldn't want to be part of something that is beloved? But it would take a tone I related to. It wouldn't be just to...you know."

Most MCU movies have predictable elements. Even a film that tries to subvert expectations, like "Guardians of the Galaxy," still follows relatively predictable beats (the heroes find one another, band together, overcome the odds, beat the big baddie, etc.). In all the MCU canon to date, there's one semi-ostracized movie that doesn't really fall in line with this formula and manages to march to the beat of its own drum: "The Incredible Hulk."

The film features the Jade Giant before he was played by Mark Ruffalo (who entered the franchise in "The Avengers" in 2012). In this first Marvel Cinematic Universe foray for the character, Bruce Banner is played by Edward Norton, who brought a famously (or infamously?) unique perspective to his film's titular character.

You can find an endless amount of opinions on what went on behind the scenes with "The Incredible Hulk," but the general takeaway is that Norton seems to have wanted a large amount of control over the movie. His vision for the moody hero was quite different from your average MCU flick, too, and it led to tension behind the scenes. Marvel Studios even created a "no-a**hole policy" on their sets after the ordeal.

Despite the creative struggles, Norton's vision for the Hulk character was deep. He compared Bruce Banner's story to the Greek myth of Prometheus, a tragic hero trapped in a terrible situation, and he attempted to channel that on the screen. This led to a movie that had a distinct tone and attempted to do something different (similar to Brody's conditions). It's interesting to note that the difference in tone is part of what led to "The Incredbile Hulk's" failure to launch. If Brody wants a "different" superhero movie, the success of films like "The Dark Knight" trilogy shows that there's room for that, but the relative failure of "The Hulk" also hints that the MCU may not be the place to wander off script. Then again, "The Hulk" was early in the Marvel craze. Maybe Norton was just ahead of his time, and nearly two decades later, a subversive approach from a visionary like Brody is the perfect thing we need to overcome the superhero fatigue that is rampant across the film industry right now.