5 Marvel castings that never materialized

The Marvel Cinematic Universe began with a cinematic big bang called Iron Man (2008), and after over 16 years, it slowly put some actors in the shoes of characters that we now cannot simply think that any other foot will fit in these roles now.

The Infinity Saga ended in 2019 with Avengers: Endgame and took away a couple of mainline characters with us. Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man was a goner by the end of the movie. The grief for the character that fans showed was so deep that fans even commemorated the day he finally snapped his fingers and sent the Thanos army to dust.

But there were some other faces of the industry who were thought to be playing these characters that we will see in the list that follows. We don't know how that could've turned out, but thinking about these actors playing those characters is indeed interesting. Maybe they are playing those somewhere in an alternate timeline.

Actors that were rumored but never made it to the Marvel Cinematic Universe

5. Tom Cruise as Iron Man

We will begin with the most commonly known fact that Tom Cruise was considered to play Marvel's Iron Man in the movies. Since the first movie, he has been linked with it. However, he has denied such rumors.

In fact, he thinks Robert Downey Jr. is the best actor for Iron Man. He even told ComicBook.com that,

"I love Robert Downey and I can’t imagine anyone else playing this role."

That's something similar to what his Edge of Tomorrow star Emily Blunt has to say about the role of Black Widow, which Scarlett Johansson played in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The rumors picked up the pace again when Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was on the horizon and he was said to appear as an Iron Man variant. Sadly, fans had to manage with the Illuminati minus him.

4. Josh Hartnett as Loki

Josh Hartnett is many things, from being a 90s teen idol to one of the beloved action heroes recently. Sadly, he is not Loki. Jim Carrey was rumored to be in line for the role too, but then he's too mischievous to be the God of Mischief.

He reportedly met with the Thor director Kenneth Branagh but we eventually got Tom Hiddleston as the God of Mischief. Now we hope that we see him becoming the Avenger Prime too.

3. George Clooney as Nick Fury

Before casting Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Marvel had a chat with the Ocean's George Clooney. This actually had a slight chance to work out. Fans must know that most of the time, he has been presented as a white character.

In 2002's The Ultimate comic book series, Mark Miller reimagined him as a black man. For whatever this is worth, this version turned out to be a better one alongside the story. And Samuel L. Jackson's version? Well, that's still the best. For Clooney, he sure can be one great James Bond.

2. Jason Momoa as Drax the Destroyer

The man of the sea could have been the man of the space, should he have chosen to go for the audition of though from outside and mushy from inside Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Like Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, he too believes that this is just the perfect cast role. But he backed out from playing Drax as he has portrayed similar roles before.

1. Jensen Ackles as Hawkeye

Yeah, yeah! We know what you want to say. Captain America! Indeed, he could have played that role. Even better, he could've been a better US Agent. Maybe this is coming as we have seen him playing too much as Soldier Boy in The Boys.

But Marvel reportedly considered him as the very agile Clint Barton but scheduling conflicts became a hindrance here. However, if we think about it, he could've been one good choice given his not-so-bulky build at the time this rumor aired. To be precise, he was a part of Supernatural at the moment.