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

5. Jason Momoa As Drax - Guardians Of The Galaxy

Dave Bautista was unquestionably a surprise success in the role of Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy. The WWE superstar was great in what was his first genuinely major movie role, display charisma and humour as well as formidable combat prowess. However, the original choice for the role was Conan the Barbarian himself - Jason Momoa. Momoa, who auditioned for the role of Drax alongside Chris Pratt doing his Star-Lord audition, shot to fame as Ronon Dex on Stargate: Atlantis and as Khal Drogo on Game of Thrones and his audition was a great success. He turned it down though, as he thought he'd done enough similar roles where he had his top off and grunted a lot, and has had nothing but kind words to say about the casting and subsequent performance of Bautista. While he might not quite have nailed the humour as well as Bautista, he certainly has more on screen presence and this moment and the chance for character development with Momoa in the role of Drax would certainly have been greater.