ERIC BANA - THE CLOCK IS TICKING ON BANA'S RETURN AS THE HULK

ERIC BANA remains keens to reprise his role as THE HULK - so long as sequel plans tie into his schedule.

The Australian actor played the angry green giant's alter-ego, DAVID BANNER, in ANG LEE's 2003 action film and recently suggested he wouldn't be back for a planned sequel.

But he tells moviehole.net he's still contracted to play Banner in THE HULK 2 - as long as producers can get the project rolling quickly.

He says he has always been committed to the role and will return as the troubled Dr Banner as long as writers and directors can come up with a script and a cast "in a particular timeframe".

Bana tells the website that if they can't meet a certain timeframe, he can contractually reject the offer.

The news ends speculation that former X-FILES star DAVID DUCHOVNY has been signed to play Banner in a straight-to-DVD sequel.