Once again, it's a weekend battle of head-to-head stars. This week someone's going to get smashed. Hard. In this corner, we have Ed Norton turning green in The Incredible Hulk. And in this corner we have one-time hip-hop extravaganza, Marky Mark Wahlberg in M. Night Shyamalan's film, The Happening. You know the rules. Let's drop the cage. Two men enter! One man leaves!

In the box office this weekend: Winner = Norton
For a while no one was quite sure what to make of the new Hulk reboot. Then as screenings started to pop up, the word got out. It's as good as Iron Man. The excitement is high and the film is tracking just a little shy of Iron Man, meaning it might actually do those kinds of numbers. Word is beginning to leak on The Happening and it ain't good news. Not to mention the fact that people feel burnt by Shyamalan's last few efforts. And they decided not to screen it to critics. Bad move. A PG-13-superhero-movie versus a rated-R-science- fiction-thriller by a hit-or-miss director? Puh-leeze. The Hulk will be seeing green.

In the critical arena: Winner = Norton
Norton rocks in this film hard. All the gossip about bickering and arguing between Norton and the filmmakers of The Incredible Hulk might stem from the fact that Norton has treated this role as if it were from one of his Oscar-caliber films. He is just awesome as Bruce Banner, taking his cues from the late, great Bill Bixby. Wahlberg, on the other hand, is one of the worst parts of the extended clips put out on the net to promote his film. And early reviews cite this as the worst he's ever been. Plus, critics have it out for Shyamalan these days. The biggest mistake you can make with critics is attack them in a film that doesn't back it up with the best you've got. And that's exactly what Lady in the Water did. Critics are gonna be gunning for this whether it's good or not.

In their careers: Winner = Norton
The guy's on his way to an Oscar, and is honestly about a decade due for one. And playing a superhero in a top quality film is a great way to introduce yourself to younger audiences who will grow up idolizing you as a superhero. Wahlberg is extremely talented, but terrible at picking films. He rarely ends up in a movie worthy of his talent (like The Departed). Unless he gets some good career advice soon, he's gonna end up in underwhelming movie after underwhelming movie. You know, like he has in the last few years.

In a fight: Winner = Wahlberg
He's not big, but he's from Boston and carved out of some kind of stone. Not only would he kick Norton's ass, he could take the entire Film.com staff at once. Then again, so could Norton. Although, if we're talking movie-wise, Hulk could cream Wahlberg. If Wahlberg were looking the other way at the start.

Winner = Norton
HULK SMASH PUNY SHYAMALAN!

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