Lord of the Rings star Liv Tyler has been hired to play Betty Ross opposite Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner in Marvel Studio’s upcoming feature The Incredible Hulk. The two thespians take over roles played by Jennifer Connelly and Eric Bana in director Ang Lee’s 2002 Hulk movie, from which Marvel and distributor Universal are trying to distance themselves.

Directed by Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Transporter II), The Incredible Hulk is scheduled to begin shooting this summer in Toronto. More of a reboot than a sequel, the pic will find Ross estranged from Banner until she can no longer resist helping him elude his pursuers and cure his rage-induced transformations. The word circulating through the grapevine is that the story draws a good deal of inspiration from the popular 1978 television series.

As we previously reported, Marvel Studios has hired vfx house Rhythm & Hues Studios to create the CG-animated Hulk, which Industrial Light & Magic brought to the screen in the first film. Rhythm & Hues has reportedly done a complete re-design of the green giant, though Internet rumors speculate that they may be going more in the direction of the gray hulk that kicked off the comic-book property in the early 1960s.

The Incredible Hulk is slated to hit theaters on June 13, 2008, one week after the May 2 bow of Marvel Studios’ Iron Man, which stars Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges.

Tyler was last seen on the big screen with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle in the Mike Binder-directed drama Reign Over Me, and is working on a comedy titled Smother and a horror flick titled The Strangers.