22 Marvel Actors Who Almost Played Different Heroes (Or Villains)

I can't imagine my favorite Marvel characters being played by different actors. For example, Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova wouldn't be the same if they'd been played by Emily Blunt and Emma Watson instead of Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh.

Sarah Finn, Marvel's casting director, is absolutely phenomenal at what she does.

What makes a lot of these actors so great in their roles is their love of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For many of them, their casting was a dream come true — and it might not have been the first Marvel role they tried to get.

Here are 22 Marvel actors who originally auditioned for a different MCU role:

1.Dominique Thorne, who was introduced as Riri Williams/Ironheart in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, originally auditioned to play Shuri in the first Black Panther.

The role went to Letitia Wright.

You can watch her screen test with Chadwick Boseman below:

2.Lupita Nyong'o, who plays Nakia in Black Panther, auditioned to play Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy.

The role went to Karen Gillan.

3.Karen Gillan, who plays Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy, tried out for the role of Sharon Carter/Agent 13 in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

The role went to Emily VanCamp.

Here's her audition tape:

4.Mark Ruffalo was introduced as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in The Avengers, but he was actually director Louis Leterrier's first choice for the same role in The Incredible Hulk.

Edward Norton played Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk, but Mark replaced him afterward.

5.Chadwick Boseman, who plays King T'Challa/Black Panther in Black Panther, initially auditioned for the role of Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy.

The role went to Dave Bautista.

You can watch his audition below:

6.Djimon Hounsou, who plays Korath the Pursuer in Guardians of the Galaxy, also auditioned for Drax.

Djimon reprised his role in Captain Marvel.

7.Tom Hiddleston auditioned for the titular role in Thor before he booked the role of Loki.

Chris Hemsworth got the part of Thor.

You can watch Tom watch his own Thor audition here:

8.Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far from Home, was reportedly on the shortlist for the lead in Doctor Strange.

The part went to Benedict Cumberbatch.

9.Before he was cast as Erik Killmonger in Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan read for the role of Sam Wilson/The Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

The role went to Anthony Mackie.

10.Anthony Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson/Captain America in the upcoming Captain America: New World Order, tried out to play Trevor Slattery/the (fake) Mandarin in Iron Man 3.

The role went to Sir Ben Kingsley.

11.Before she was cast as Thena in Eternals, Angelina Jolie was reportedly considered for the role of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in Iron Man 2.

The role went to Scarlett Johansson.

12.Natalie Portman, who plays Dr. Jane Foster/Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, was also reportedly in consideration to play Black Widow.

13.Mads Mikkelsen, who plays Kaecilius in Doctor Strange, was offered the role of Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, but he had to decline because of scheduling conflicts with Hannibal.

Marvel went with Christopher Eccleston for the role.

14.Before he was cast as Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2, Sam Rockwell was in consideration for the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man.

The role went to Robert Downey Jr.

15.Lee Pace, who plays Ronan the Accuser in Guardians of the Galaxy, was reportedly on the shortlist to potentially play Peter Quill/Star-Lord.

Marvel ultimately went with Chris Pratt for the part.

16.Before he booked the role of Martinex in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Michael Rosenbaum auditioned to play Star-Lord.

17.Zachary Levi, who plays Fandral in Thor: The Dark World, also auditioned for Star-Lord and got as far as the screen tests.

18.Before he was cast as Star-Lord, Chris Pratt tried out for the role of Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger.

The role went to Chris Evans.

Here's some of his audition:

19.Wyatt Russell, who plays John Walker/US Agent in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, also auditioned to play Captain America. It was actually his first audition ever.

20.Wilson Bethel, who plays Agent Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter/Bullseye in the series Daredevil, got really far in the audition process for Captain America. He screen tested twice, tried on the suit, and met with the director.

21.Before John Krasinski played a variant of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, he also got really far in the audition process for Captain America. He screen tested for the role and tried on the suit.

22.And finally, Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier in Captain America: The First Avenger, initially auditioned for Captain America.

Watch part of his audition here: