Now that The Incredible Hulk has opened and pulled down the #1 spot at this weekend’s Box Office, it’s safe to say that the big green man will be making a return, be it in a third Hulk movie or just a spot in The Avengers for Marvel in 2011.

/Film has an impressive retrospective of then entire Marvel Vs. Edward Norton controversy, outlining the parts of the Edward Norton script cut, eventually leading to the stripping of his writing credit and the rumors that Norton wasn’t going to do promotion for Hulk (he did, but not a lot).

Pair that up with a FirstShowing’s report detailing director Louis Leterrier’s choice to end The Incredible Hulk with a smiling goateed Ed Norton:

“So that last shot of the movie, if you decide that he’s smiling, in control, then he’s a good guy, that’s The Hulk 2. If Hulk is a failure, then he looks up and smirks and that’s eventually the Hulk of The Avengers - the uncontrollable beast that they need to team up to stop.”

The Hulk will be back, seems to be the summation, but Ed Norton will probably fly the coup (We would if we were promised as much control as he was only to have it stripped away). Ed’s not big on popcorn flicks and usually sticks to more independent products where he can act as a producer and control his appearance in the film. Though some might be interested in a Norton-controlled Hulk 2, there is no way Marvel is going to hand out spare producer creds on The Avengers.

It looks like Bruce (or as we see in the end of Incredible; David) Banner might need another change of face. Norton was a step in the right direction after Eric Bana’s Banner looked too buff to be the nerdy scientist required for the Marvel Jekyll and Hyde.

We think we’ve found your man, Universal: Steve Buscemi.

He looks like the least likely man to turn into a giant green behemoth, he’s got the chops to bring more geek to the role (though whomever dawns the part of Betty Ross needs to be convincingly in love with him, like Thora Birch in Ghost World) and IMDB lists him as totally open for the 2011 slot, even if his rumored projects in development all end up seeing the light of day.

Hulk will be back with or without Norton, and letting Buscemi take the superhero role he deserves will guarantee that Banner will hold his own against the rumored heavyweights being eyed for the rest of the Avengers: Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Leo Dicaprio as Captain America and Brad Pitt as Thor.