At this point, it honestly seems like every actor in the world has made his or her way
into a Marvel movie at one point or another.
Between the X-Men franchise, the ever-expanding MCU and independent Marvel hits like Deadpool,
there is no shortage of roles available for willing actors.
For this video, we are taking a look at some actors who were almost in Marvel movies, but
ultimately missed out.
Here is our list of 10 Actors Who Were Close To Being A Marvel Superhero.
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single day!
Emily Blunt – Black Widow For years there have been rumors swirling
about Emily Blunt finally joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but as of now – she
still hasn’t.
The closest that the Edge Of Tomorrow actress ever came was when they were casting the role
of Black Widow.
Both Blunt and Marvel wanted her for the role and plans were already in motion for her to
debut as the character in Iron Man 2.
Unfortunately she was contractually obligated to turn it down and instead work on the regrettable
movie, Gulliver’s Travels.
Lucky for Marvel fans, Scarlett Johansson is fantastic as Black Widow, but we’re sure
people still wonder what it would have been like if Emily Blunt had kept it.
Jake Gyllenhaal – Spiderman The story of Jake Gyllenhaal almost becoming
Spiderman is definitely a weird one, as this casting almost happened for Spiderman 2, when
Tobey Maguire had already played the titular hero in the original movie.
Gyllenhaal was seriously considered for the role due to the fact that Maguire had actually
seriously injured his back while filming Seabiscuit.
The studio was unsure that Maguire would be able to reprise the role of Spidey, and Gyllenhaal
seemed to be their answer.
In the end, Tobey Maguire and the filmmakers were able to work out a plan and Jake Gyllenhaal
was let go.
This re-casting would have definitely been unique, but we are happy it didn’t happen.
Liam Hemsworth – Thor But wait, isn’t Liam the brother of Chris
Hemsworth, who actually plays Thor?
That’s right, before Chris landed the role of the Asgardian God it was actually his younger
brother Liam who was the front-runner to wield the hammer.
The even crazier thing is that the studio’s second choice after Liam was none other than
Tom Hiddleston, who of course plays Loki in the film.
Somehow Chris was able to convince the studio heads that he was the right Hemsworth for
the job.
We think that his Thor-like blonde hair and incredible physique definitely helped his
cause in beating out his brother for the part.
Tom Cruise – Iron Man Robert Downey Jr is absolutely iconic as Tony
Stark in the MCU, but it turns out that RDJ wasn’t actually the first choice for the
role.
Years before the world ever got to see Iron Man, the studio was actually targeting a different
leading man, Tom Cruise.
In the mid 2000’s Cruise was a true superstar, whereas Downey Jr was somewhat of a black
listed actor.
The studio tried to secure Cruise for the role, but the actor finally decided to pass
on the part.
This is the definition of a blessing in disguise as RDJ’s Iron Man has been the most important
and iconic character in the entire MCU.
Russell Crowe – Wolverine Russell Crowe has a pretty stack filmography
with roles in movies ranging from Gladiator to Les Miserables.
The actor has even played a part in DC’s Man Of Steel as Jor-El, but one thing Crowe
is yet to do is star in a Marvel movie.
As it turns out, Crowe almost made his Marvel movie debut back in 2000 as he was actually
in talks to play Wolverine in the X-men movie before the filmmakers decided to go with Hugh
Jackman.
Looking back it’s hard to imagine anyone but Jackman in the iconic role and it’s
hard to know how Crowe would have done.
One thing is for sure, if he had taken on the role of Wolverine, he would have had to
whip his body into much better shape!
Ronda Rousey – Captain Marvel Ronda Rousey is one of the most famous MMA
fighters of all time and with her incredible physique and fighting ability she’s somewhat
of a real world superhero.
Rousey doesn’t have an extensive acting history, but she has made it known that she
would be interested in adding a Marvel role to her filmography.
When Marvel announced that they would be making a Captain Marvel movie, Rousey was sure to
let it be known that she would be all in for playing the titular character.
Unfortunately for the fighter, Marvel has announced that Brie Larson will be taking
on the role but that doesn’t mean that Rousey can’t land a Marvel role some time in the
future.
John Boyega – Black Panther Along with Daisy Ridley, John Boyega is right
at the helm of the new Star Wars trilogy and with the success of 2015’s The Force Awakens,
Boyega truly became a worldwide star seemingly over night.
When Marvel announced that it would be making a Black Panther movie, reports started surfacing
that Boyega would be joining the cast.
Unfortunately, the actor shut down these rumors but he did let people know that he actually
wanted to play the T’Challa before Marvel decided to cast Chadwick Boseman.
Boyega is a young and rising star so it wouldn’t surprise us if he ended up in a Marvel movie
at some point.
John Krasinski – Captain America Other than Iron Man, Captain America is the
biggest star in the MCU and Chris Evans has been brilliant in the role for years.
It’s hard to imagine someone else throwing Cap’s shield but it turns out the funny
man John Krasinski actually nearly landed the role.
Marvel has keen on Krasinski and even had him screen test with the suit on, but in the
end they decided to take the casting in a different direction.
Krasinski has been a good sport about the decision and has even joked about losing his
spot in the MCU to men with better bodies.
These days, Krasinski is looking pretty ripped to we wouldn’t be surprised to see him in
a super suit some time soon.
Johnny Depp – Doctor Strange Marvel’s 2016 magical superhero movie, Doctor
Strange, was a critical and box office hit and Benedict Cumberbatch brought some serious
acting chops to the lead role.
Cumberbatch looks like he is here to stay but it is pretty common knowledge that he
was not Marvel’s first choice for the character.
Studio heads were actually very keen on casting Johnny Depp in the role in hopes that he would
bring his quirky character acting skills to the MCU.
On top of Depp, the studio heads were also heavily considering Joaquin Phoenix for the
titular role.
In the end, both Depp and Phoenix turned down the offer and Marvel was stuck offering the
role to Cumberbatch.
Margot Robbie – Fantastic 4 In the summer of 2016, the whole world fell
in love with Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in the DCEU movie, Suicide Squad.
There is no denying that she is absolutely perfect in the part, but some fans may not
know that she almost played a very different superhero movie character.
When Marvel was planning to reboot Fantastic Four, the filmmakers wanted Robbie for the
role of Sue Storm.
After disliking the script, Margot Robbie decided to pass on the role and hold out for
a comic book movie role that suited her better.
She’s probably very happy with her decision as Fantastic Four was an absolute nightmare
and although Suicide Squad was met with very mixed reviews, her Harley Quinn was a hit!
So there you have it, there’s our list of 10 actors who were close to being a Marvel
superhero.
Which one of these castings do you wish had happened?
What other crazy casting rumors have you heard about?
Let us know what you think in the comments section below and be sure to subscribe to
our channel for more fun videos – like this one!