1

Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier in Captain America: The First Avenger, initially auditioned for Captain America.

2

Lupita Nyong’o, who plays Nakia in Black Panther, auditioned to play Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy.

3

Chadwick Boseman, who plays King T’Challa/Black Panther in Black Panther, initially auditioned for the role of Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy.

4

Karen Gillan, who plays Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy, tried out for the role of Sharon Carter/Agent 13 in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

5

Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays Mysterio in Spider-Man: Far from Home, was reportedly on the shortlist for the lead in Doctor Strange.

6

Tom Hiddleston auditioned for the titular role in Thor before he booked the role of Loki.

7

Before she was cast as Thena in Eternals, Angelina Jolie was reportedly considered for the role of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in Iron Man 2.

8

Anthony Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson/Captain America in the upcoming Captain America: New World Order, tried out to play Trevor Slattery/the (fake) Mandarin in Iron Man 3.

9

Dominique Thorne, who was introduced as Riri Williams/Ironheart in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, originally auditioned to play Shuri in the first Black Panther.

10

Mads Mikkelsen, who plays Kaecilius in Doctor Strange, was offered the role of Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, but he had to decline because of scheduling conflicts with Hannibal.

11

Before he was cast as Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2, Sam Rockwell was in consideration for the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man.

12

Lee Pace, who plays Ronan the Accuser in Guardians of the Galaxy, was reportedly on the shortlist to potentially play Peter Quill/Star-Lord.

13

Before he booked the role of Martinex in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Michael Rosenbaum auditioned to play Star-Lord.

14

Zachary Levi, who plays Fandral in Thor: The Dark World, also auditioned for Star-Lord and got as far as the screen tests.

15

Natalie Portman, who plays Dr. Jane Foster/Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder, was also reportedly in consideration to play Black Widow.

16

Before he was cast as Star-Lord, Chris Pratt tried out for the role of Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger.

17

Wilson Bethel, who plays Agent Benjamin “Dex” Poindexter/Bullseye in the series Daredevil, got really far in the audition process for Captain America. He screen tested twice, tried on the suit, and met with the director.

18

Before he was cast as Erik Killmonger in Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan read for the role of Sam Wilson/The Falcon in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

19

Before John Krasinski played a variant of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, he also got really far in the audition process for Captain America. He screen tested for the role and tried on the suit.