9 Actors Who Almost Played Comic Book Villains

Without any real success in a good few years, Josh Hartnett was very much the kind of actor Marvel were looking at when building the MCU, being recognisable but not a household name, and able to mould a character without costing too much.

Hartnett had meetings with director Kenneth Branagh to discuss his involvement in the first Thor movie as Loki, the God of Mischief. To a degree, you can see why the actor would appeal, with his sleek-hair and boyish charm, he has the surface-level qualities for someone like Loki.

Sadly for him, the plum multi-picture deal fell to the relatively unknown (but Olivier Award Winning) Tom Hiddleston, who has crafted a far more fascinating take on the character than Hartnett likely would've, becoming one of the most popular MCU characters in the process and having one of the strongest character arcs too.

Hartnett, meanwhile, has since fallen into relative obscurity despite his rise to stardom at the turn of the century, while Hiddleston is reprising his role as Loki for a big-budget Disney Plus series.