Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the biggest movie businesses in Hollywood. From Avengers to all the interconnected heroes of the universe have garnered a huge fanbase. But even though Marvel Studios is a big name, not every actor wants to be a part of it. Many actors in Hollywood have turned down the offer when the studio came knocking. Marvel became a studio of its own and is now owned by Disney. This has made it easy for them to attract some of the top-tier actors. But not all. There are a few names of Hollywood that turned down the major Superhero roles offered to them by Marvel. Read on to find out who they are.
Matthew McConaughey
There is no surprise that a talented actor like Matthew McConaughey would’ve received offers from MCU to play major superhero roles. In 2015, Variety reported that the actor had rejected a major role in a Marvel movie. The actor himself told Playboy in an interview that he was offered to play Ego the Living Planet, but he picked the Stephen King adaptation The Dark Tower. He explained, “I like Guardians of the Galaxy, but what I saw was, ‘It’s successful, and now we’ve got room to make a colorful part for another big-name actor. I’d feel like an amendment.”
Matt Damon
Daredevil is another marvel comic hero that has a huge following. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck too are the fans of the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. But when Matt Damon was approached to play the role in Fox’s Daredevil, he turned it down. In an interview with New York Daily News in 2015, Damon shared, “For us, it was always Daredevil, that’s the comic we read when we were kids. But when that one came along I chickened out, because I couldn’t tell. I hadn’t seen the director work and I didn’t know. So I just said, ‘No.'”
Emily Blunt
Not once but twice, Emily Blunt is the actress who has turned down a major superhero role by Marvel twice. The actress was the first choice of the studio to play the role of Natasha Romanoff. Though we love Scarlett Johannson as Black Widow, still wonder how the character would’ve turned out if Blunt had said yes. And the second role she turned down was of Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger. According to the news, Fox studios had had her under a contract and chose Gulliver’s Travel instead.
Joaquin Phoenix
The Joker star, Jaoquin Phoenix was approached by Marvel to play the role of Doctor Strange. But the actor did not want it. And Benedict Cumberbatch finally said yes to the role that suits him so well. Joaquin Phoenix, on the other hand, turned down the Marvel superhero role. He said his sensibilities do not match well with the universe the studio is building. He told Time Out London, “They’ve gotten better. I’ve flirted with several of those films, having meetings and getting close, but ultimately it never felt like they’d really be fulfilling.”
Leonardo DiCaprio
Today we know three different actors who have played Spider-man and have also seen the three of them together. But before Sam Raimi made the first spider-man movie, James Cameron was set to make one with Carolco Picture. Unfortunately, the Carolco went bust in 1995 and the director went on to make the classic movie – Titanic. When Sony chose to make the Spider-Man movie, they were all about the James Cameron script. And they wanted Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred as Jack in his previous film, to play Peter Parker, but the actor turned down the offer.
Related: Worst DC/Marvel Superhero Films Of All Time, Ranked
