With 22 movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the MCU is hands-down the most successful
movie franchise of all time.
We have grown up with these characters, and it’s hard to picture anyone else taking
on their role.
However, many came close.
Very close.
So today on Beyond The Screen, we’re going to be counting down the Top 10 Actors Who
Refused Massive Marvel Roles.
Lets jump in.
10.
Tom Cruise – Iron Man At this point it’s a tale as old as time.
In the early stages of Iron Man’s development, there were a handful of names floating around,
but none more than Tom Cruise, who seemed the most likely to take on the mantle prior
to Robert Downey Jr landing the role.
Cruise confirmed the rumours while promoting Mission Impossible - Fallout, however, he
did state to Comic Book online that he wasn’t as close to landing the role as people suspected.
Now, some fans got very excited at the possibility of seeing Cruise in a marvel film, with the
actor stating, I quote, “I look at a movie and I don’t rule anything out.
It’s, What’s the story?
Does it interest me?
Do I feel this is where the audience would like to see me in?
What can I learn?
And what can I contribute?
That’s how I choose my movies.”
So, don’t rule Cruise out of the MCU just yet, there’s still hope.
9.
Josh Hartnett – Spiderman Back in 2014, it come to light that actor
Josh Hartnett had turned down roles in not just one major superhero film, but three.
Including: Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man.
He said, I quote, “Spider-Man was something we talked about.
Batman was another one.
But I somehow knew those roles had potential to define me, and I didn’t want that.
I didn’t want to be labeled as Superman for the rest of my career.
I was maybe 22, but I saw the danger.”
Now, it was probably a good choice for the actor, who instead went on to land roles in
Pearl Harbour and Black Hawk Down.
Two major hits in Hollywood.
8.
Rachel McAdams – Pepper Potts Many will be surprised to know that Mean Girls
actress Rachel McAdams turned down the role of Pepper Potts in Iron Man.
When it was time for casting the 2008 mega hit, McAdams was at the top of Jon Favreau’s
list, with Marvel even offering her the role of Tony Stark’s “Girl Friday” who turned
it down to instead work on State of Play and The Time Traveler’s Wife.
However, despite this, Marvel finally nabbed the actress when it came time to shoot Doctor
Strange, with McAdams joining the film as Christine Palmer, the role the actress said
she found to be more appealing.
7.
Jessica Chastain - The Wasp Chastain was in talks to join the MCU back
when Ant-Man was in development.
With the two-time Oscar nominee topping the list of actresses to play Hope Van Dyne, aka
The Wasp.
However, according to reports, the actress turned down the role because it did not have
enough superhero action for her taste.
According to Chastain, she stated, an actor only gets one shot with superhero movies.
Once you’re cast as a certain character, you are that character forever.
And to quote Chastain, playing a “Civilian” in a superhero movie was not something she
was interested in.
If only she knew what Ant-Man and The Wasp would have held for her, and of course, Endgame.
I imagine she might have some regrets.
6.
Saoirse Ronan - Scarlet Witch When it was reported that the MCU was brining
Scarlet Witch into the fold, fans were overjoyed, of course, and many began speculating about
who would take on the iconic role.
Two-time Oscar nominee, Saoirse Ronan was among the shortlisted for the powerful witch,
and was even offered the part.
However, at the time, Ronan was in high demand and was forced to pass on the role due to
scheduling conflicts.
So, of course, the role instead went to Elizabeth Olsen, who did an incredible job as Wanda
Maximoff, and it’s hard to visualize anyone else taking on that role.
5.
Jason Momoa – Drax According to reports, out of all the MCU movies,
casting Guardians of the Galaxy proved to be the most difficult.
Marvel’s first choice to play the fan-favourite Drax the Destroyer, was Jason Momoa, who at
the time was still riding his Game of Thrones high.
At the time, Momoa was best known to play muscular characters who have little dialogue,
so it was the perfect fit.
The actor auditioned and the part was instantly offered to him, with Momoa even donning the
costume.
However, he pulled out last minute, coming to the realization that he didn’t want to
be typecast, and instead wanted to accept roles that show him as happy, because that’s
how he wanted his kids to see him.
4.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Star Lord
Leading on from our previous point, during the same time, Marvel for hunting for the
lead for Guardians of the Galaxy, even knocking on doors of big Hollywood stars such as Joseph
Gordon-Levitt.
Levitt was offered the role of Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, but turned it down in order
to do the Sin City sequel instead, which as we know, flopped big time.
Forcing Levitt to admit that he made a mistake turning down the popular role.
When Ant-Man came around, Levitt was determined to get a role in MCU, and even made it on
the short list alongside Paul Rudd.
But, of course, Rudd won out, and Levitt was left once again, wishing that he had accepted
the role from the very beginning.
3.
Joaquin Phoenix – The Hulk/Doctor Strange
After the momentous fail that was The Incredible Hulk, the MCU was searching for a new Hulk
to appear in the upcoming Avengers movie, following Edward Norton leaving the franchise.
Marvel wanted a big name to fill his shoes, and thus went after Joaquin Phoenix, however,
Phoenix turned it down and it instead went to Mark Ruffalo.
However, Marvel did not give up hope, and once again approached Phoenix when it came
time to cast the role of Stephen Strange and they got pretty far.
During contract negotiations Phoenix backed out of the role, but has since praised the
MCU, stating that he does enjoy the movies, but it’s just not something he could ever
see himself doing.
2.
Emily Blunt – Black Widow Back in 2010 when casting began for Iron Man
2, Marvel approached rising star Emily Blunt for the role of Natasha Romanoff, aka, Black
Widow.
However, due to scheduling conflicts she turned it down, instead opting to shoot Gulliver's
Travels.
The following year, Marvel approached the star once again, this time for the role of
Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger.
However, once again, the deal fell apart due to scheduling conflicts, and Blunt turned
it down, yet again.
Now, Blunt would have been amazing in both of those roles, but it is hard to see anyone
other than Scarlett Johansson and Hayley Atwell, who both did incredible jobs as Black Widow
and Peggy Carter.
1.
Leonardo DiCaprio – Spiderman Titanic star, Leonardo DiCaprio has had an
incredible career in the industry, even nabbing himself an Oscar along the way.
However, little did we know, the Hollywood star turned down the role of both Robin and
Spider-Man before soaring in the big leagues.
But, it didn’t seem to slow him down.
DiCaprio had a meeting with Sam Raimi about playing Peter Parker in the Spider-Man trilogy,
but the actor stated that he didn’t feel ready to put on the suit yet.
When asked if he would ever consider playing a superhero, the actor stated, I quote, “You
never know.
You never know.
They’re getting better and better as far as complex characters in these movies.
I haven’t yet, but no, I don’t rule out anything.”
It’s unlikely that we will see DiCaprio take on a big superhero role, but like he
said, never say never.
Perhaps one day.
Well, there we have it!
Do you agree with our list?
Were there any actors that we missed?
Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below.
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