10 Movie Casting Choices That Were Total Misdirection

6. J.B. Smoove - Spider-Man: Far From Home

Spider-Man Far From Home JB Smoove
Marvel Studios

What Everyone Expected

One of the greatest strengths of the MCU Spider-Man movies has been their diverse and eclectic casts, and so fans were overjoyed when Curb Your Enthusiasm's brilliant J.B. Smoove was cast in an unspecified yet apparently "major" role in Spider-Man: Far From Home.

This quickly prompted speculation from countless fans and outlets that the hilarious motormouth Smoove would be playing a contemporary, rebooted version of The Daily Bugle's editor J. Jonah Jameson.

And given the MCU's tendency to veer sharply away from prior iterations of iconic comic book characters, going with a totally new and radical Jameson was perfectly believable.

What We Got

In reality, Smoove ended up playing Julius Dell, Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) teacher and one of his class' chaperones through Europe.

Hilariously, he was cast in the part after the filmmakers enjoyed his chemistry with Parker in an Audi commercial made to promote Spider-Man: Homecoming two years prior.

But the true genius of Smoove's casting is that it got people so tangled up in speculating about him possibly being Jameson that they totally forgot about J.K. Simmons, who of course made a jaw-dropping return as Jameson in Far From Home's mid-credits scene.

While you can argue this misdirect was more a result of fans playing themselves rather than any overt chicanery on Marvel Studios' part, it worked splendidly whether intentional or not.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.