Joaquin Phoenix as The Hulk?

This is quickly turning into a debacle, isn't it? Over the weekend it was reported that Marvel has decided not to have Ed Norton reprise his role as The Hulk in their upcoming superhero super film, The Avengers. The reason given was some lame mumbo jumbo about wanting an actor who embodied the collaborative spirit of the rest of the cast. Huh?  I still think it boils down to money. It always boils down to money with Marvel. Remember Terence Howard? Remember how they tried to lowball Samuel L. Jackson? "Collaborative spirit" to Marvel probabably means he needs to be willing to take a pay cut.

So who does Marvel would be a much better fit as David "Bruce" Banner?  Joaquin Phoenix.  MC Joaquin.

CHUD has the story, stating that Marvel has made the peculiar(and supposedly retired) actor an offer for the role, and that Phoenix is weighing his options. He's an actor who's grown on me, with his "final" performance in Two Lovers being the one that made me a big time fan. But what's the upside in bringing him in over Norton? Phoenix is a good actor, but not on Norton's level. He's notoriously moody and somewhat temperamental. It just doesn't make a lot of sense without including the monetary factor.

I expect that all of these questions will be revealed at Comic-Con. God I wish I was going to be there!