We can’t imagine anyone else other than Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne in the Dark Night Trilogy. But do you know that Cillian Murphy was almost the Caped Crusader in Nolan’s take on Batman?
The Oppenheimer star put all his effort into securing the role, but he was aware of the fact that the competition is tough, particularly when Bale jumped into the ring.
Nolan liked Murphy’s performance and offered him the role of central villain Jonathan Crane, aka The Scarecrow. But this is not the first time an actor who was almost the lead superhero ended up becoming their arch-nemesis.
Let’s talk about the four instances where actors who are known for playing Marvel villains were close to portraying the superheroes.
4 Marvel Villain Actors Who Nearly Became Superhero
Here is the list of 4 Marvel villain actors who could have almost become superheroes.
1. Tom Hiddleston
Chris Hemsworth is the kind of actor who manages to look like Thor even when he’s not donned in his superhero costume, thanks to his muscular physique. But to everyone’s surprise, he wasn’t the first choice to play Thor. It was Loki star, Tom Hiddleston, who was almost considered to play the role.
Hiddleston also put on some muscle to look more authentic for the audition of the hammer-wielding God. It would be shocking to know that Hemsworth failed his initial audition.
But he was given another chance, and he made it this time as the God of Thunder, and Hiddleston was given the role of Thor’s evil step-brother and major MCU villain, Loki.
2. Sam Rockwell
There’s no doubt that the highly skilled and effective superhero of the MCU, Iron Man, is the one who helped the franchise to reach heights of success.
Earlier, when the MCU was just starting out, the studio had to think hard about who would play the genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist, Tony Stark.
And Sam Rockwell was one of the actors who was up for the role. He was even personally supported by the director, Jon Favreau.
But Robert Downey Jr.‘s audition outperformed all those who were in line for the role of the original Avengers team member and leader. Even though Rockwell didn’t secure the lead role, he left a positive impression to be later cast as one of the main villains, Justin Hammer, in Iron Man 2.
3. Jake Gyllenhaal
Marvel fans know Jake Gyllenhaal as supervillain Mysterio. But he could have also been the Spidey we know today. The original Spider-Man (starring Tobey Maguire as the webbed wall-crawler) was a huge hit.
But its production faced challenges because Maguire experienced physical injuries from a mishap on another film set. It seemed like he would not be able to reprise his role as Peter Parker in the Spider-Man sequel.
His injury was so serious that other actors were put into consideration in case the replacement of Maguire was needed. Gyllenhaal was quite close to being cast as the new Spidey.
But Maguire returned to the role. Gyllenhaal had to wait for a decade to be a part of the Spider-Man saga, only to become Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far From Home.
4. James Franco
James Franco became famous for the 2002 superhero film Spider-Man when he played Harry Osborn—the son of the villainous Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and best friend of Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire).
He then went on to reprise his role in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3. But originally, he was considered for the lead role of Spider-Man/Peter Parker in the film. Though it’s not confirmed why Franco didn’t appear as the superhero.
But, it is believed that Disney avoided casting him because he is linked to sexual misconduct allegations. Another reason was that the filmmaker didn’t like Franco’s audition, but he was impressed enough to give him the role of Peter’s best friend.
As the story continues, the friendship between Peter and Harry deteriorates, and that’s how Franco’s character becomes the new Green Goblin in Spider-Man 3.
