Edward Norton to play the villain opposite Jeremy Renner in The Bourne Legacy

Brad Sturdivant July 12th, 2011

It would be an understatement to say I’ve been a naysayer of the planned reboot of The Bourne franchise sans Matt Damon. I don’t like the very idea of doing a film that’s neither a prequel nor a sequel, but rather something that runs entirely parallel to the Damon films. That, and I really can’t get on the Jeremy Renner bandwagon. Yeah, he was good in THE HURT LOCKER, but I can’t buy him as a leading action hero. And today’s news that Edward Norton might be joining the film as the villain should have me super excited, but it doesn’t. Mainly because…can you think of who played the villains in the previous Bourne films? You might be thinking of Brian Cox or maybe Joan Allen, but they worked in an office. I can’t imagine Norton taking on a role that would have him sit behind a desk and make threatening remarks to roomful of people while Renner carries the film.

At this stage, Norton hasn’t officially signed on yet, but it looks like it’s all a matter of signing on the dotted line. The Tony Gilroy film should start filming soon and will feature Rachel Weisz as the female lead, which is the best thing going for the film at this point.

Edward Norton