1. Joaquin Phoenix

The Joker actor was originally considered to play the role of Doctor Strange in the MCU but passed it on as he did not feel that he would do well in a studio filled with green screens. 

2. Emily Blunt

Scarlett Johansson has done wonders with Natasha Romanoff’s character. However. she wasn’t the first choice for the role. The Devil Wears Prada actor Emily Blunt was first considered for the role in Iron Man 2 but the British actress just couldn’t find the time as she was shooting for another film at the time. She was also approached to play Agent Peggy Carter in the first Captain America film but she refused. 

3. Matthew McConaughey

McConaughey was considered for a role alongside Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but the actor refused to do it saying: 

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.

4. Olivia Munn

While it was not in the MCU, Munn was chosen by Fox to play the role of Wade Wilson’s love interest Vanessa in Deadpool. However, the Newsroom actor refused to play the role of the love interest and instead played a superhero herself in X-Men: Apocalypse.

5. Matt Damon

Remember how bad the Daredevil movie was and how nobody wanted Ben Affleck to play The Batman because of it? Well, the role was first offered to Matt Damon, who had refused it because of his unfamiliarity with the director and in general, not being happy with the script. 

6. Tom Cruise

You have probably even seen the memes of it Cruise’s face in an Iron Man helmet. The film had been in development since the 1990s and Cruise had long been in talks to play the superhero. Reports suggest that Cruise gave up the role due to financial disagreements. 

7. Jason Momoa

Before Dave Bautista made the role his own, Drax was offered to actor Jason Momoa but he refused because he had done a lot of similar roles before, where he didn’t say much, had weird colors on, and his shirt off. 

8. Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde was considered for the role of Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy but turned down the role due to unknown reasons. The studio considered Gina Carano for a but before eventually offering it to Zoey Saldana. 

9. Edgar Wright

Wright and screenwriter Joe Cornish began developing Ant-Man in 2003 but the duo left the film right before it began shooting in 2013. Wright told reporters that this due to creative differences with the studio and that they didn’t want to make an Edgar Wright movie. 

10. Guillermo Del Toro

Del Toro was supposedly working with Neil Gaiman for the latter’s version of Doctor Strange. However, the project never got anywhere as Marvel didn’t like the duo’s ideas for the character. 

11. Patty Jenkins

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was originally at the helm of Thor: The Dark World but Jenkins wanted to make a Romeo and Juliet version of Thor and Jane’s love story but Marvel wanted a more intergalactic adventure feel to it. 

12. Ava DuVernay

Oscar-nominated director Ava DuVernay was first offered Black Panther but the filmmaker said that she had to walk away due to differences in storytelling. She went to say that when it came to story and perspective, Marvel and she just didn’t look eye to eye. 

While some of them were really good choices, we can only imagine what a few others could have done with the right film!