9 Actors Who Almost Played Comic Book Villains
1. Alec Baldwin - Alexander Pierce
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a wonderful throwback to 70s conspiracy thrillers, dressed up as a superhero sequel. It's the kind of genre mashup we haven't seen enough of in the MCU, with the exception of Thor Ragnarok's buddy-comedy makeover courtesy of Taika Waititi.
Winter Soldier's old school sensibility is complemented quite nicely by the slightly meta-casting of Robert Redford's as Alexander Pierce, the undercover Hydra operative who has infiltrated the upper echelon's of SHIELD's leadership.
This might be one definitive instance where an actor was replaced by somebody more suited for the role. The Russo brothers, perhaps thinking Redford wouldn't be interested in a comic book movie, pitched straight to Baldwin, who has played many of these corporate types before and has dabbled in big-budget Hollywood tentpoles too.
His wife's pregnancy prompted him to pass on the role however, leaving the door open for Redford, who is a far better fit for the part than Baldwin would've been, helping make The Winter Soldier one of the very best MCU offerings.
Do you wish any of these castings had actually happened? Let us know down in the comments.