12 Near-Miss Castings That Almost Improved The Marvel Cinematic Universe

8. Alexander Skarsgard As Thor - Thor

Pretty much everyone now knows that Tom Hiddleston - the man who would go on to play Loki so brilliantly - originally auditioned for the role of Thor, along with Chris Hemsworth's brother Liam. But, in an interview with MTV, True Blood's Alexander Skarsgård - son of Stellan Skarsgård, who plays Erik Selvig in the Thor movies - revealed that he was also in the running for the role of the Asgardian hero. He actually came very close to landing the role, having met with director Kenneth Branagh and Marvel head Kevin Feige on a number of occasions. He even screen tested in the full Thor costume. When the MTV reporter said to him that he thought Skarsgård should've won the role as he had the perfect look for Thor - which he does, given his Scandinavian heritage - Skarsgård responded "So did I!" There was nothing wrong with Hemsworth's performance, but we think Skarsgård would also have nailed it and the fact he is more naturally Thor-esque in his appearance would only have further helped in the role.