Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness contained a handful of air-punching cameos for comic-book fans, and as new actors are being ushered into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we started thinking about the ones that didn’t make it.

We’ve compiled a list of ten actors who made the shortlist in becoming some of Earth’s mightiest heroes, including a few you may not have known about.

Phase 4 of the MCU is shaping up to be more exciting than ever and the latest events that transpired in Doctor Strange 2 prove that the next ten years are going to eventually involve every working actor in Hollywood.

That’s right, Hollywood’s biggest action star was once in the running to become the lovable Tony Stark, before Robert Downey Jr. was considered for the role.

In an interview with IGNFF, Cruise was asked why his role as Iron Man never came to fruition:

“They [Marvel Studios] came to me at a certain point and, when I do something, I wanna do it right. If I commit to something, it has to be done in a way that I know it’s gonna be something special. And as it was lining up, it just didn’t feel to me like it was gonna work. I need to be able to make decisions and make the film as great as it can be, and it just didn’t go down that road that way.”

We can’t imagine anyone but RDJ delivering Tony’s one-liners now, but Cruise’s involvement would have been quintessential 90s casting and his portrayal may not be something totally ruled out in the future – if those Multiverse of Madness rumors are anything to go by.

The Office and A Quiet Place actor and director John Krasinski once made it to the shortlist in becoming Captain America, a.k.a. Steve Rogers.

During an interview on The Ellen Show, Krasinski told the story of how he auditioned to play Cap before Chris Evans came in and had a humorous tale to tell about his first fitting:

“The truth is, they hadn’t offered it to [Chris] yet, so they were like, “Let’s see who else is out there before we offer it to Chris Evans.” And um, I went in and I tested for Captain America.”

It’s only right that we segue from John Krasinski to his wife and fellow actor Emily Blunt, to talk about how she almost became the deadly Russian assassin Black Widow.

Before the role went to Scarlett Johansson, with the character’s first appearance in Iron Man 2, Blunt was first picked to play Natasha Romanoff, however, scheduling conflicts forced her to pass on the role.

Entertainment Weekly reported on Blunt’s interview with Howard Stern, where she talked about the heartbreaking decision to turn down the role:

“I was contracted to do Gulliver’s Travels. I didn’t want to do Gulliver’s Travels. It was a bit of a heartbreaker for me. I take such pride in the decisions that I make, and they mean so much to me, the films that I do.”

Before production for the Black Widow solo movie began in 2019, Harry Potter alum Emma Watson was first in line to play Natasha Romanoff’s sister Yelena Belova.

According to ScreenRant, director Cate Shortland, as well as Marvel president Kevin Feige, wanted Watson to play a “female Bond” type character.

As it transpired, the role went to Florence Pugh who Shortland admired and she continued to advocate the actor’s ability to handle the physically demanding role and the on-screen chemistry with Scarlett Johansson.

Before Chris Hemsworth picked up Mjölnir for the first time, The Northman and True Blood actor Alexander Skarsgård was a godly favorite.

Interviewed by MTV, Skarsgård revealed that he was a contender to play the God of Thunder:

“Yeah, I met with Kevin [Feige] a few times and the director [Kenneth Branagh]. There was definitely some truth in that, yeah.”

The interviewer also mentioned that Skarsgård got far enough along in the audition process to try on the Asgardian robes, which the actor admitted was “pretty fun”.

Joker actor Joaquin Phoenix was very nearly the one delivering the “Scooby-Doo this crap” line before the personable Benedict Cumberbatch.

Reported by CinemaBlend, Phoenix elaborated on turning down the role, wanting to set the record straight about any misconceptions people have about him as an actor:

“I think they make some great, fun movies. There’s nothing wrong… I’m not a f******, like, cinephile. I’m not a snob and I’m totally fine with… I enjoy those movies sometimes, and I think they keep the f****** industry going in some ways, so I don’t have a problem with it at all. I think that everybody was, is… I’m trying to figure out how to say this most diplomatically, okay… I think everybody was really happy with how things turned out. All parties were satisfied.”

Whoever wanted to see Dean Winchester take a leap of faith off the side of a New York skyscraper to flaunt his archery skills almost got their wish.

According to IndieWire, Supernatural actor Jensen Ackles was offered the role of Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, at one point.

Ackles originally auditioned for Captain America, alongside John Krasinski, before the role went to Chris Evans. However, Marvel liked Ackles and subsequently offered him the role of Hawkeye for Avengers, but the actor had to turn it down because of his commitment to The CW show.

Deadline reported back in 2013 that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was being considered for the role of Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord, joining the race with Joel Edgerton and Eddie Redmayne.

In the end, Gordon-Levitt decided to pick up a role in Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For, but Marvel wasn’t quite out of options for the actor.

Gordon-Levitt was later one of the frontrunners to play Ant-Man, however, Marvel chose Paul Rudd to bring Scott Lang to life.

Known for towering over foes as Aquaman and Khal Drogo, Jason Momoa was offered the role of Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy before it went to Dave Bautista.

Speaking to Zap2it (via Giant Freakin Robot), Momoa explained why he turned down the role:

“Dave (Bautista) is perfect for that role, for Drax. It didn’t really fit in my time because I’ve done so many things where I don’t say much and I’m colored up and I have my shirt off again. I made a conscious choice to turn down some movies that were action-based to direct Road to Paloma so people could see that side…. It’s not that it’s not a good role, it just wasn’t the right thing. I was on Stargate: Atlantis for four years playing a similar character called Ronon, who was an alien who didn’t say much and grunted. I’ve been there and done that, whether people have seen it or not. You want to stretch.”

Lastly, Mamma Mia and The Dropout actor Amanda Seyfried was reportedly pursued by Marvel to play Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy.

With the character later being fulfilled by Zoe Saldaña, Seyfried opened up to Comicbook.com about why the role was not right for her:

“I think about it often. I’m not really a Marvel movie watcher, which is, I think, why I was just like, ‘Ah, I don’t wanna be green. It’s just so much work.’ I remember Jennifer Lawrence talking about once, how long it took her to get blue. And I was like, ‘That seems like hell on earth,’ because then you get to set and you’re only there for a couple hours, and then you have to take everything off. And that was literally the reason.”

By Jo Craig – [email protected]

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