MCU: 10 Fascinating Facts Behind Thor (2011)

5. TWO People Turned Down Fandral

The strange story of Fandral's casting is already pretty well-known as it's another of those examples of an actor in an MCU property being replaced in the sequels, much like Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle for Iron Man 2.

As has been explored before, Zachary Levi was the first choice to play the character, but was forced to turn it down because of scheduling conflicts so the studio turned to Josh Dallas. Then in turn Dallas couldn't return for Thor: The Dark World, so Levi was cast to replace him, bringing it full circle.

But there's more to this story. Neither was the first actor to have been hired. Just as he was hired to play Aragorn in Lord Of The Rings but never made it to the final film, Stuart Townsend was originally cast as Fandral but then pulled out of the role mere days before filming began, citing "creative differences."