Why Arnold Schwarzenegger lost the role of Hulk

Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a long and successful acting career. His most iconic character has been the Terminator. But even besides the Terminator franchise, he has found success in several other movies, including Commando, Predator, and True Lies, among others. But many fans wouldn’t know that he could have ended up playing the Hulk.

So far, we’ve had four actors play the Hulk in live action. The first was Lou Ferrigno, who starred as the physical embodiment of the Green Goliath in 1977’s The Incredible Hulk series. Following that, 2003 brought us Ang Lee’s Hulk movie, starring Eric Bana as Bruce Banner. Then came the MCU’s Hulk movies, which began with Edward Norton as the titular superhero, but Mark Ruffalo later took over the gig.

However, Arnold Schwarzenegger could have been the first ever Hulk since he was the primary choice to play the Green Rage Monster in 1977’s TV series.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger literally fell short of playing the Hulk

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno (Image via Twitter)

Before becoming a full-time actor, the Terminator star rose to fame because of his achievements as a professional bodybuilder. After making his debut in Hercules in New York (1969), Schwarzenegger’s persona as Hollywood’s top action hero didn’t materialize until the 1980s. But things could have been totally different for him had he gotten to star as the green superhero in 1997’s The Incredible Hulk series.

The show featured Bill Bixby as David Banner and Lou Ferrigno as Banner’s Hulk form. Back then, CGI wasn’t as great, so CBS used a buffed-up actor to play the Green Goliath. But according to Essentially Sports, Ferrigno was only picked over Arnold Schwarzenegger because he was taller.

Lou Ferrigno vs. Arnold Schwarzenegger (Image via Twitter)

Schwarzenegger was a six-time Mr. Olympia winner by 1975. He had beaten Lou Ferrigno in 1975’s competition. He then won his seventh in 1980. But before that, Ferrigno got back at the Austrian by bagging the role of the Hulk. Apparently, Arnold, who stands 6 feet 2 inches tall, was deemed 3 inches shorter for the role.

Ferrigno, on the other hand, was 6 feet 5 inches, which allowed him to secure his most famous acting role because of the tiny size difference. Had Schwarzenegger been just 3 inches taller, he would have gotten the part for sure.

The possibility of seeing Arnold as the Hulk in his peak shape does sound intriguing. The series ran for five seasons and could have begun the actor’s successful run much sooner. But looking back at the success he found later, it’s safe to say that not starring as the Hulk might have helped the former bodybuilder. But Hulk isn’t the only famous role that Arnie almost played.

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Other roles that Arnold Schwarzenegger almost starred in

Arnold almost played Robocop (Image via Sony)

We already know Arnold Schwarzenegger as an iconic cybernetic organism. But he almost played another one in 1987’s Robocop. Unfortunately, he missed out on the Robocop gig due to scheduling conflicts.

But before that, Ridley Scott was directing I am Legend, and his first choice for the role was Schwarzenegger. However, he couldn’t sign on for the film because Scott himself dropped out of the project. Later, I Am Legend came out in 2007 with Will Smith in the lead.

Other popular movies he could have been featured in include a canceled Spider-Man movie, Die Hard, Total Recall 2, and Face/Off, among others.