According to the latest word from IESB, the WGA has decided not to include Edward Norton as a co-credited writer on the script for The Incredible Hulk even though it’s widely known that he has extensively retooled Zak Penn‘s original draft. I’m not claiming to know what kind of evidence the WGA used to come to a decision like this, but either the changes that Norton made to the script are not as extensive as we were led to believe or there are possible WGA legality issues, regardless as it stands Penn will be the sole writer credited for the movie.

Norton has been a complete no-show for promotion on the film. Apparently Norton wanted The Incredible Hulk to be more dialogue-heavy, while Marvel wanted more action. Because Norton didn’t get his way, he pulled out on doing publicity for the film, even going so far as to decline being interviewer by USA Today.

I’ve been a big fan of the Hulk all my life, so I couldn’t be happier to read that the early buzz on the series reboot appears to be positive. And while they may be lauding Norton’s redrafting as the Jesus, all I’m saying is that *should* this movie suck gamma gonads, despite this WGA credit-nub, I will continue to place sole burden of blame squarely on his shoulders. I’m not saying I have no confidence in Norton’s abilities as a writer, but we’ve all seen what ego-trip rewrites can do to a solid script. Call me conflicted.