3. The Cast Could Have Been Very Different
Obviously this particular fact applies to any film, but it's more about WHO could have been cast - had some of the original casting ideas come in to fruition, or had some of the other auditionees been cast - that isn't very widely known. For the role of Fandral in the first movie, Zachary Levi was approached but he had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. Dominic Cooper (who, of course, now plays Howard Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) was then rumoured to be considered for the role but, instead, actor Stuart Townsend was cast. However, days before filming began he left the role due to creative differences with the film-makers. Joshua Dallas finally took the role only to be replaced by original choice Zachary Levi in the sequel. It was rumoured that Jesicca Biel and Diora Baird auditioned For the role of Sif - a role which ultimately went to the very gorgeous Jaimie Alexander. Brian Blessed was rumoured to be one of the first choices for Odin - who, of course, was so excellently portrayed by Sir Anthony Hopkins, ultimately. It was rumoured that the likes of Jim Carrey (who had previously worn a mask belonging to Loki in "The Mask") and Josh Hartnett were originally seen as candidates for the role of Loki - a role that has since been made so iconic by the brilliant Tom Hiddleston. Although this isn't exactly a "little known" fact, originally, Hiddleston auditioned for the role of Thor. For his screen test, he put on twenty pounds of muscle. However, when Kenneth Branagh came on board to direct, he took Hiddleston out for breakfast and told him "I want you to play Loki". Branagh then asked Hiddleston to lose the twenty pounds of muscle he had put on by sticking to a strict diet while training in the Brazilian martial art of capoeira. With regards to Thor, the likes of Brad Pitt and Channing Tatum were considered as potential candidates, but the final choice for the titular role came down to brothers Chris Hemsworth and Liam Hemsworth. Chris said he found it funny, explaining; "We both came all the way over here from Australia and ended up battling against each other." He claimed that he bore no ill-will towards his brother, Liam, and he was actually rooting for him to get the role. Originally, the movie was intended to be a mere television movie, however, with Tyler Mane (who played Sabretooth in the original X-Men movie) in the role Thor. An alternate story for the movie saw actor Kevin McKidd playing Thor's comic book alter-ego, Donald Blake, but he was scrapped along with the idea to include the character. It's hard to imagine any of those possibilities now, given how well every single actor did in their roles in the two movies - but hopefully the above image at least gives you an idea about how one of those particular ideas might have looked!