30+ Fascinating Details About How Your Favorite Heroes Of The Marvel Cinematic Universe Were Perfectly Cast

Take a look at how these celebrities made the cut to become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Chelsi

• Published in Film & TV
• April 10, 2022

Going through casting can be a grueling process both for the actors and actresses as well as for the production team. Picking the right people for each character can make or break the film. 

There’s more on the line when you’re talking about including people with an already great cast as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s. Although at the start, there were also times when the producers were hopeless in finding the right actors who would pioneer the movie franchise. 

But then the right actor comes along like Robert Downey Jr. for Iron Man and then suddenly the whole team can see how things would turn successful. There are also easy picks where the director and producer just know who to reach out towards to play the character amazingly.

If there are origin stories of heroes and villains, there are also origin stories of how those characters came to life because of the actors who were screened to take on their roles. Then of course there’s Samuel L. Jackson, who was technically the base of Nick Fury so there was no argument that he’d be perfect for it.

Only the task to get him on board. All of these people made up for the amazing cast of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

1. Simu Lui being cast as Shang-Chi is nothing less than destiny.

At the start of his acting career, he would go to birthday parties dressed as Spider-man, and a year before he was announced to play Shang-Chi, he hinted in a tweet that he would want to play the character. Turns out there were a lot of people who auditioned to play the character and Simu came late but wowed everyone. 

2. The casting for Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man became more personal than what usual casting was.

Robert Downey Jr. didn't exactly have a good public record but they saw the rawness in his character that they could relate to Tony. Robert admitted to putting his best foot forward and tried to play the role well so the chance they gave him wouldn't go to waste. 

3. When things looked hopeless, Chris Evans came to the rescue by playing Captain America.

Chris already played someone involved in the Marvel universe and so he was looked over during casting. But then the image of him embodying the hero stuck and they offered him the role. He took some time to decide but when he mustered up the confidence to say yes, he went on to play the part amazingly.

4. The process of casting Captain America was gruelling and a lot of big stars went for the role but didn't meet the expectations.Actors like Channing Tatum, John Krasinski, and Chace Crawford.

5. Brie Larson was already an awarded actress but she was still hesitant about being the powerful Captain Marvel.

The powers of the superhero were something beyond what avid Marvel followers have seen and they wanted to find someone who can bring balance to the character. Brie was wary that she might not be able to uphold the expectations for the role but the more they talked to her about it the more she felt like wanting to do it.

6. As there are people who almost got the role of Captain America, there are also frontrunners that could’ve been Captain Marvel.Emily Blunt, Katheryn Winnick, and Yvonne Strahovski were among the actresses considered.

7. Probably one of the smoothest castings ever was Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa otherwise known as Black Panther.

The producers were throwing ideas about the progression of the cinematic universe when they decided to add Black Panther. Instantly they had an agreement that Chad would be the best person to play the hero and the next day, they called him and that was it, he was in. 

8. Hemsworth almost landed the role of the Nordic god, Thor.

If that got you confused, we’re talking about the younger Hemsworth. It was disclosed that he didn’t make the cut because he was too young and when they went on with the casting. Chris then tried out to see if he could beat his brother in a healthy competition and he actually did.

9. There were quite a number of people who were considered for the role of Thor. The list included Triple-H, Charlie Hunnam, and Alexander Skarsgaard.

10. The journey of Loki’s character is quite the rollercoaster, it’s a good thing Tom Hiddleston is up to the task.

But it didn’t start that way, he was actually eyeing being Thor but when he got a callback, they broke the news that they would like to have him as Loki.

11. Valkyrie was a breath of fresh air for the MCU and so was Tessa Thompson playing her.

She was very vocal about her role as something other than a love interest and even if Taika Waititi received criticisms from die-hard fans for her casting, they soon grew to see why Tessa was the perfect actress for the role.

12. When the Marvel takeover happened with Spiderman, young actors were screened to be the hero in the upcoming movies.

Tom Holland was included in those who auditioned. And although the other contenders were great, RDJ felt that there was something different with Tom.

13. Before Mark Ruffalo was cast as Hulk, there was drama going back and forth between the previous actor who played the superhero.

 It was also a risk having someone play the role again as both Hulk movies didn’t do so well. But then when they made Hulk part of an ensemble mixed with Mark playing the character, they finally succeeded in making him one of the most loved heroes.

14. Scarlett Johansson went as far as dying her hair red to convince producers that she was the right person to play Black Widow.

There were some scheduling problems when the production was ongoing for the movies but it was eventually solved and people got to know her a lot more when she not only played the character of Black Widow well but also Natasha Romanoff.

15. There was a time when Jeremy Renner denied being cast as Hawkeye.

 He started out with an uncredited cameo in the movie Thor before they introduced her to the audience in 2012’s The Avengers. Although he didn’t feel part of the movie so much because of the short screen time but in the sequel, they made sure to make his presence known.

16. There was no hesitation in casting Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

Mainly because the character was basically based on him. This led to a nine-picture deal and the way he played the character cemented him as one of the most important people that string the stories together.

17. Anthony Mackie played Falcon or Sam Wilson, Captain America’s right-hand man in The Winter Soldier.

He initially wanted to take on the role of Black Panther and even reached out to Marvel for it but they asked him to play Falcon instead. He was still content with the role and was thankful to work with an amazing cast.

18. Sebastian Stan was one of the ‘almost Captain Americas’ but then he was cast to fit the role of Bucky Barnes.

He remembered the phone telling him that he wasn’t right for the part he auditioned but the moment they proposed the role of The Winter Soldier to him, the feeling of rejection lessened.

19. They were sure that Elizabeth Olsen was the right person to bring Scarlet Witch to life but the feeling wasn’t mutual at first.

They eventually convinced her and now she has her own spinoff series called Wanda Vision. Talk about good instincts.

20. It might not seem like it but Paul Bettany is incorporated as one with the longest history in MCU.

He was the voice actor for JARVIS but when the story arc of that character was coming to an end and Vision’s was beginning, they bent the rules to pick him for not only his voice but for his acting skills.

21. Chris Pratt worked hard to uphold the role of Star-Lord.

The director and producers weren’t really set on him but Chris could really relate to the character. When he auditioned they saw how much that was true. He underwent a massive transformation to make sure that he looks the part too.

22. Zoe Saldana was the first choice to play Gamora but she didn’t want to go through the hours of makeup sessions and work tirelessly just to be a character that didn’t even say anything.

 She knew how important kids look up to heroes and so they continued with her character as someone to be one of the most to have a pivotal role in Infinity War.

23. Crediting two actors for Rocket Racoon, we’ve got Bradley Cooper and Sean Gunn taking the role of a less than convenient character.

Bradley’s voice impressions were spot on as he described Rocket’s voice perfectly while Sean Gunn was the motion actor behind it.

24. The adorable Groot was surprisingly played by Vin Diesel which started off as a prank.

Unlike the simple subtitles, Vin was provided with scripts with the meaning behind Groot’s ‘groot’. He continued on to play Baby Groot too.

25. Before Bautista was cast as Drax the Destroyer, the first pick was Jason Momoa who auditioned with Chris Pratt before deciding not to go with the role.

It was a nerve-wracking process for Bautista but when he finally got the call he couldn’t be more grateful.

26. Karen Gillan was known to have long red hair, that’s why it was a surprising but awesome moment when she stepped out with a shaved head and announced that she was cast as Nebula for Guardians of the Galaxy.

She thought that the character was very cool and had a love for the genre, so it was an easy agreement for her.

27. Pom Klementieff playing Mantis was something that James Dunn really looked forward to.

Despite the great actresses who auditioned for the role, there was something about Pom that let her play the character in a way that emphasised her powers.

28. Paul Rudd was already well-loved by the public as a Hollywood star.

In the early stages of the casting, the producers knew that Paul was the gem for the role and they were relieved when he enthusiastically agreed to be on board. 

29. Evangeline Lilly was on the right path to be considered as Hope van Dyne or better known as The Wasp.

With her previous roles in the same genre, they reached out to her to play alongside Paul Rudd while she delivered the memorable line: ‘It’s about damn time.”

30. Benedict Cumberbatch almost had to walk away from playing Dr. Strange.

The scheduling conflicts were out of hand and prevented anything from happening. The fans were already buzzed at that time about the rumour that he would be playing Dr. Stephen Strange already as well as the director thought it was a perfect match for his character. They pushed back filming and got Benedict to play the complex hero.

31. Taylor-Johnson was back and forth for about a year before deciding that he would join MCU.

The director had him in mind as Quicksilver, and although his personality is far from Pietro Maximoff, Joss knew that he would be able to pull it off.

32. Gwyneth Paltrow was a big gain for Marvel when she agreed to play Pepper Potts.

She originally was signed to play in three movies alongside her lifetime friend, RDJ but he pushed for her to appear in more. Their chemistry is great and the calibre of traits that she had was considered as perfect for the character of a first leading lady.

33. When Hayley Atwell played Peggy Carter, she turned the otherwise small role into a fan favorite.

She was amazed by the sheer strength that Peggy had and knew she was a good role model for those who are looking for strong women representation. 

34. After another recast story from the Marvel productions, Don Cheadle was set to play Colonel Rhodes, otherwise known as War Machine.

He revealed in an interview that he was actually a frontrunner ever since the beginning but it ended up being given to Terrence Howard. When it was his turn to be cast, he was only given an hour to make a life-changing decision.

35. Thanos might be one of the most complex characters in the MCU as a self-proclaimed good guy.

It was some big shoes to fill in and the producers reached out to Josh Brolin if he was up to agreeing to the role. Before he said yes though, he called up Mark Ruffalo, someone who was experienced with being part of a lot of CGI and asked if the experience was okay.

It is important to get the right people to play the roles, especially in films such as these. Not only do they have to consider if they’ll be there until they have to be for several films, but also if they could bring in the dedication it takes to embody these roles.

Chelsi