10 MCU Actors Who Weren’t Cast In Their Dream Roles

Not every actor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ended up playing their preferred role, and many have since revealed which character they had always dreamed of playing. The MCU boasts an impressive and star-studded cast that has brought beloved Marvel heroes to life for decades, often fulfilling Marvel readers’ dreams of seeing their favorite superhero brought to life. However, some central MCU cast members have explicitly noted that their dream was to play a different character.

Many MCU actors have commented on how much they love playing their characters and how it was a dream come true. Tom Holland is a notable example of an actor who has loved his character ever since he was a young child and was overjoyed to play Spider-Man in the MCU timeline. Others, like Robert Downey Jr., embodied their character so effectively, that they have been celebrated as delivering the quintessential rendition of the character, appearing in the very best MCU movies.

10 Donald Glover – Aaron Davis (Spider-Man: Homecoming)

Who He Wanted To Play: Spider-Man

Donald Glover served as the original inspiration for Miles Morales, the teenage Spider-Man. As such, when The Amazing Spider-Man was in development, Glover actively campaigned to be cast as Morales on social media and in the series, Community. Andrew Garfield was ultimately cast, but Donald Glover’s association with Miles Morales has been cemented ever since. As Glover has aged out of the teenage role, it is unlikely that he will ever play Spider-Man in live-action – though he has voiced Miles in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series.

Glover’s connection to the Spider-Man universe continued when he was cast as Aaron Davis, Miles Morales’s uncle, in Spider-Man: Homecoming. In the film, Davis hints at his nephew’s existence, a nod to Miles Morales’s potential future appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This casting choice delighted audiences, acknowledging Glover’s initial campaign and his enduring association with the beloved character.

9 Pom Klementieff – Mantis (Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol 2)

Who She Wanted To Play: An X-Men

Before Pom Klementieff became widely recognized for her role as Mantis in the MCU, she harbored a different superhero dream: to be one of the X-Men. Kelmentieff first appeared as Mantis in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and was a mainstay character in the franchise until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 concluded several character arcs. Klementieff discussed working with Gunn at the Ace Superhero Comic Con (via Cinema Blend), stating:

“For me it was amazing to work with James Gunn, it was always my dream to be an X-Men or part of a Marvel movie. Then, I saw the first Guardians of the Galaxy, and it became my first Marvel movie ever. Then, I got cast in the second one. I feel so lucky.”

Although she did not become a member of the X-Men, Klementieff’s dream of acting in a Marvel movie certainly did come true. Klementieff’s performance of Mantis was captivating and offered a thrilling and dynamic update on the classic Marvel Comics character. While Klementieff would have flourished as one of Marvel’s mutants, her Mantis was staggeringly entrancing, endearing audiences with her gentle yet formidable presence.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Set to the sonic backdrop of Awesome Mix 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the adventures of Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Baby Groot as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics reappear.

Release Date

April 19, 2017

Runtime

137 minutes

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8 Ben Mendelsohn – Talos (Captain Marvel)

Who He Wanted To Play: Doctor Doom

Following his character’s death in the MCU Phase 5, Ben Mendelsohn desperately wants to be recast as Doctor Doom. Mendelsohn portrayed the Skrull Talos, who was first introduced in Captain Marvel and then appeared throughout Secret Invasion. At the end of the miniseries, Talos was killed, prompting Mendelsohn to lobby for the iconic Marvel villain, Victor von Doom.

In several interviews after completing Talos’s arc in the MCU, Ben Mendelsohn has been emphatic about his desire to play Doctor Doom. Mendelsohn has spoken at length about his interest in Doom’s complex and tragic motivations and even railed against the Fantastic Four in true supervillain fashion. While perhaps not as physically intimidating as one might expect for the MCU’s Doctor Doom, Mendellsohn’s ability to portray nuanced and damaged characters would serve him well in portraying the highly anticipated villain.

Captain Marvel

Director

Anna Boden , Ryan Fleck

Release Date

March 6, 2019

7 Wesley Snipes – Blade (Blade Trilogy)

Who He Wanted to Play: Black Panther

Before Wesley Snipes became synonymous with the character Blade, he had his sights set on playing Black Panther. In the early 1990s, Snipes began pushing for a Black Panther movie, noting his desire to explore the hero’s rich cultural heritage and history as a black superhero. Despite his efforts, various obstacles, including script issues and technological limitations, stalled Wesley Snipe’s Black Panther project.

However, Snipes’ ambition to bring a black superhero to the big screen did not go unfulfilled. In 1998, he was cast as Blade, Marvel’s half-vampire hero. Blade became one of the most influential comic book movies ever, spawning two sequels and establishing several essential superhero movie tropes. While the MCU is rebooting the character, Wesley Snipe’s performance as Blade was so quintessential that Snipe’s Blade is rumored to be joining the MCU as an older variant of the character.

Blade (1998)

Based on the vampire-slaying Marvel comic-book hero, Blade is an action horror film directed by Stephen Norrington that sees Wesley Snipes in the titular role. Known to his foes as “Daywalker,” the half-human, half-vampire Blade hunts the creatures of the night to keep the city safe until a young, ambitious vampire threatens to disrupt the balance forever by unleashing an ancient evil power.

Director

Stephen Norrington

Release Date

August 21, 1998

Runtime

120 Minutes

6 Chris Evans – Captain America (Captain America: The First Avenger)

Who He Wanted To Play: Spider-Man

Chris Evans was celebrated for his iconic portrayal of Captain America in the MCU, embodying the character’s valor, integrity, and resilience. However, Evans’ childhood hero wasn’t the famed first Avenger, but rather Spider-Man. After leaving the mighty cinematic franchise, Evans discussed his love for Marvel’s Spider-Man and noted that he would have loved to play Peter Parker in a Spider-Man movie.

Chris Evans revealed in an interview that he was keen to play Spider-Man’s wall-crawling and urban acrobatics – presumably during Tobey Maguire’s era. However, Evans had significant reservations about the Spider-Man suit. Evans is claustrophobic and was concerned about wearing the mask and the form-fitting, full-body costume that the role requires. While he didn’t get to play his childhood hero, Evans noted that he was very satisfied playing Captain America, and even preferred his costume.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain America: The First Avenger is a 2011 superhero movie starring Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, a weak patriotic civilian who becomes the test subject for the military’s Super Soldier project. The film was the fifth film in the long-running MCU franchise and also starred Samuel L. Jackson, Hugo Weaving, Hayley Atwell, and Sebastian Stan.

Director

Joe Johnston

Release Date

July 22, 2011

Runtime

124 Minutes

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5 Anthony Mackie – Sam Wilson (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

Who He Wanted to Play: Black Panther

Anthony Mackie has revealed that before being cast as Sam Wilson in the MCU, he was actively trying to play the franchise’s Black Panther. In an interview with Inverse, Mackie discussed how fervently he petitioned Marvel to produce a Black Panther movie, with him in the lead role. Mackie even claimed to have written letters to Marvel producers requesting the movie and the role.

Marvel ultimately decided that Mackie was better suited to play the MCU’s Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This role has since flourished into one of the franchise’s main characters, appearing in each Avengers movie and finally becoming the next Captain America in the MCU’s Captain America: Brave New World. As one of the most prevalent cast members, and boasting one of the most significant character arcs, it would seem Marvel made the correct decision.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the ninth entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After being awoken from cryosleep in the previous film, Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world. As he adjusts, he must battle a new threat from old history: the Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier.

Release Date

April 4, 2014

Runtime

136 minutes

4 John Krasinski – Mr Fantastic (Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness)

Who He Wanted To Play: Captain America

John Krasinski harbored ambitions of playing Captain America in the MCU, even making the shortlist alongside Chris Evans. During the casting process for Captain America: The First Avenger, Krasinski auditioned and even tried on the iconic suit. The prospect of embodying the quintessential American hero was thrilling for him. However, despite his initial enthusiasm, Krasinski ultimately decided not to pursue the role further, frequently joking that he was intimidated by Chris Hemsworth’s enormous physique.

Krasinski’s Marvel journey, however, did not end there. In 2022, he made a surprising and much-celebrated appearance as a variant of Mister Fantastic, the leader of the Fantastic Four, in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This cameo delighted audiences who have repeatedly voted for Krasinski as the dream casting for Reed Richards. Krasinski will not be reprising the role in the MCU’s The Fantastic Four but has stated he is open to returning to the franchise in the future.

Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness

In Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the MCU takes a deeper dive into the Multiverse and the unknown, introducing variants of Strange and other familiar friends and foes – including The Illuminati – and offers a new perspective on how it works and connects. The story follows Stephen Strange, now post-blip and no longer the Sorcerer Supreme. When a terrifying monster rampages through New York seeking to capture a young girl from another multiverse named America Chavez, Strange finds himself as her newfound protector. Unfortunately, his new foe is a former ally, Wanda Maximoff. To protect Chavez and stop Wanda’s rampage, Strange travels the Multiverse looking for answers – and encounters engrossing and terrifying realities that expand the Marvel Universe in a whole new way.

Release Date

May 6, 2022

Runtime

126 minutes

3 Angela Bassett – Queen Ramonda (Black Panther)

Who She Wanted To Play: Storm

In the 1980s, acclaimed actress Angela Bassett was a top contender to play Storm in a planned X-Men movie by director James Cameron. This project, however, was ultimately shelved. Bassett’s commanding presence and powerful delivery would have made her an ideal fit for Storm, capturing the grandeur and strength reminiscent of the character’s portrayal in X-Men: The Animated Series. Her ability to embody both authority and empathy would have brought the weather-controlling mutant to life very effectively.

Decades later, Bassett joined the MCU as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther. Her portrayal of the Wakandan queen was both regal and deeply emotive, earning her widespread acclaim. In 2022, Bassett’s performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever garnered her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first actor to receive an Oscar nod for a role in a Marvel film.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the sequel to the 2018 film Black Panther and is part of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Gripping with the passing of their king, the nation of Wakanda attempts to figure out how to move forward with Queen Mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) at the helm. However, a nation in grieving is not observed by all, as soon Wakanda comes under attack by the underwater civilization of Talocan, led by Namor (Tenoch Huerta.) Wakanda will enlist allies outside and from within to push back this new invading threat and ensure that Wakanda truly does live on forever.

Director

Ryan Coogler

Release Date

November 11, 2022

Runtime

2h 41m

2 Stan Lee – Watcher Informant (Iron Man)

Who He Wanted To Play: J. Jonah Jameson

Stan Lee, the legendary co-creator of many iconic Marvel characters, made memorable cameo appearances in nearly every Marvel film until his passing. Marvel Studios later confirmed a fan theory that Lee portrayed an informant for the Watchers, a race of cosmic beings who observe and record significant events across the universe. This clever continuity linked Stan Lee’s diverse cameos into a cohesive narrative thread.

Before his iconic run of Marvel cameos, Stan Lee had ambitions to play J. Jonah Jameson, the irascible editor of the Daily Bugle, in a live-action Spider-Man movie. Lee actively lobbied for the role, believing his energetic and outspoken persona suited Jameson perfectly. However, by the time Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man was released in 2002, Lee was too old for the part that went to J. K. Simmons, but Lee did appear in one of his trademark cameos.

Iron Man

Iron Man is the first film in the long-running Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, who becomes Iron Man after he is kidnapped and discovers terrorists are using weapons developed by Stark Industries. Gwyneth Paltrow stars as Tony’s love interest Pepper Potts alongside Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan and Jeff Bridges as the villainous Obadiah Stane.

Release Date

May 2, 2008

Runtime

126 minutes

1 Giancarlo Esposito – Unknown (Captain America: Brave New World)

Who He Wanted To Play: Professor Xavier

Giancarlo Esposito, known for his captivating performances in Breaking Bad and The Mandalorian, has been cast as a villain in Captain America: Brave New World. This announcement has generated excitement among audiences eager to see Esposito’s signature intensity and charisma in the MCU. Esposito’s ability to portray complex and menacing characters makes him a perfect addition to the MCU’s roster of villains, promising a memorable performance.

Interestingly, Esposito had previously expressed a strong desire to play the X-Men’s Professor Charles Xavier, noting that he was keen to play a hero. He envisioned bringing a new dimension to the iconic role, emphasizing Xavier’s intellect and moral strength, and suggesting that Marvel ditch the mutant’s famed wheelchair. Esposito discussed the role in an interview on The Tonight Show, where he showed enthusiasm for bringing the famed mutant leader to life in the MCU’s future.

Captain America: Brave New World

Captain America: Brave New World (formerly titled New World Order) marks Sam Wilson’s first MCU big-screen appearance as Steve Rogers’ successor after receiving the suit and shield in Phase 4’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Anthony Mackie returns as the titular Avenger alongside Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Carl Lumby as Isaiah Bradley, and Tim Blake Nelson as The Incredible Hulk’s former ally Samuel Sterns. Harrison Ford makes his MCU debut replacing the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross.

Director

Julius Onah

Release Date

February 14, 2025

Sources: Cinema Blend, Inverse