The director of Fast X and the upcoming Fast X: Part 2, Louis Leterrier, recently took part in an episode of Watchalong, which is a Happy Sad Confused spin-off in which Horowitz watches an entire movie alongside a filmmaker. The two would watch Leterrier’s 2008 film, The Incredible Hulk. During the session, Leterrier gave a lot of insightful commentary on some of the behind-the-scene tidbits that would end up plaguing the film’s future. For example, he offered the revelation that a big part of Edward Norton’s departure from the universe may have been attributed to a conflict on the soundtrack for the film.
According to Variety, Leterrier would also regale listeners with stories of some of the tense working days with the late William Hurt, who portrayed General Ross in the film. Leterrier explained, “William Hurt didn’t want the mustache to act him out. The size of the mustache was a discussion. But sometimes he and I clashed. You have two types of actors. You got your partners, your best friends that you have to cajole all day, and then the people who like to have these arguments. They feed off that. That’s how he worked.”
The director recalled another incident when the two were filming in a large helicopter. “One day he was screaming at me, ‘You don’t know anything about actors!’ Too bad for him he was in the giant helicopter at the end and I was at the control. He was like, ‘You have to find the button to the nuclear plant…’ I took the joystick and shook him and he fell and looked at me and was like, ‘I like you!’ That was it. He just wanted to have a little bit of a fight.”
Leterrier would also reveal how Norton fought the studio for a darker tone. Leterrier also professed that Norton’s instincts would have been right since The Dark Knight would open to a grand reception not long after The Incredible Hulk was released. “The whole way, everybody was in lock step. It just got tense at the end. The end, it was very tense about the tone and the level of humor. Although Edward is very funny, all his friends are comedians and he is an extremely funny guy, he was very right in defending the seriousness of the movie. You have to remember, the mid-2010s…’The Dark Knight’ had such an impact on superhero movies.”