Most surprising MCU casting

[PyroChamber]

What you say have been some of Marvel's most surprising casting decisions for the MCU?

Surprising as in: you never thought that Marvel would get that particular actor/actress, and also surprising at how good of a job they managed to do.

For starters, even though we don't know how he'll do just yet, I'm surprised they managed to get Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Robert Redford. /thread

 

[Xeno]

Glenn Close as Nova Prime.

 

[lozzy.94]

Definitely Robert Redford.

 

[seahammer]

Definitely Redford for me, too.

 

[Loki882]

Redford for me as well. I never pictured him doing a big blockbuster like CA, he's Mr. King of the Independent film scene. Anthony Hopkins sometimes takes roles simply because they seem like fun to him, Close was in two 101 Dalmations films, and Kingsley agreed to be in Bloodrayne, so they're not all that surprising.

 

[T"Challa]

Redford. Glenn Close is a close second. Those are two actors i never thought i'd see in superhero blockbusters. Kudos to the Marvel brass

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

Glenn Close is a close second.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Robert Redford

 

[Drizzle]

Pretty much all of the Guardians of the Galaxy are surprising casting choices save for Zoe Saldana. Robert Redford in Captain America: TWS isn't that surprising to me since they've cast high caliber actors before (Anthony Hopkins, Tommy Lee Jones).

Back when the individual films were announced, a lot of the casting was surprising among the fan community.

Iron Man: Even though a lot of people were in support of him getting the role, Robert Downey Jr. was a surprising choice given his past.

Thor: Casting an unknown to carry a franchise was surprising. As was casting an unknown to play the main villain. But I think the most surprising casting choice in Thor was Idris Elba as Heimdall.

Captain America: "Johnny Storm?!? WHAT?"

I also remember when Mark Ruffalo was cast to replace Edward Norton in The Avengers, there was some fan backlash. Some people even booed him at Comic Con.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Idris Elba as Heimdall was a disappointment for many fans who wanted him as Black Panther (either T'Chaka or T'Challa, probably T'Chaka).

 

[Mr. Dent]

Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon. If you had told someone a year ago Cooper would be in Guardians of the Galaxy and asked them who they thought he'd be playing, everyone who knew anything about the Guardians would have said Star-Lord.

 

[Drizzle]

Idris Elba as Heimdall was a disappointment for many fans who wanted him as Black Panther (either T'Chaka or T'Challa, probably T'Chaka).

Yeah, for me too. I like him as Heimdall, and it doesn't bother me that Heimdall is black, but he would have been perfect for Black Panther.

 

[Victarion]

Vin Diesel. I've never heard anyone really gushing over him the way some fans do/did RDJ, for example. Vin is a nerd to the core, so I'm not surprised that he wanted to join the MCU.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Yeah, for me too. I like him as Heimdall, and it doesn't bother me that Heimdall is black, but he would have been perfect for Black Panther.

The fact of the matter is that Elba, AAA and Hounsou, all rumored for T'Chaka are now in the MCU as Heimdall, Kurse and Korath.

However, it does mean that he now emerges as the father of T'Challa:

Originally my pick for T'Challa, I now have to go with my second choice:

 

[PyroChamber]

The funny thing about some of these castings is that to me it always felt like they were done at the last minute considering it was usually an actor/actress I never really thought about.

Scarlett Johansson and Chris Evans were two people I never thought about when it came to Cap and Widow until I suddenly found out they were cast.

 

[R_Hythlodeus]

. Robert Redford in Captain America: TWS isn't that surprising to me since they've cast high caliber actors before (Anthony Hopkins, Tommy Lee Jones).

Of course they did. But what seperates Redford from all they other high caliber actors is that he never before had the approach 'one movie for the money, one for the art'. he never did blockbuster movies.

 

[Drizzle]

Of course they did. But what seperates Redford from all they other high caliber actors is that he never before had the approach 'one movie for the money, one for the art'. he never did blockbuster movies.

It's not like he's Daniel Day-Lewis who only does a movie every four years and gets an Oscar nomination each time. If you look through his resume, there's some stuff on there that you can tell he probably did for the paycheck. Spy Game, Sneakers, Indecent Proposal...he even had a voice role in Charlotte's Web.

 

[lozzy.94]

I also remember when Mark Ruffalo was cast to replace Edward Norton in The Avengers, there was some fan backlash. Some people even booed him at Comic Con.

Wow everyone was so wrong about that one. Now at next years Comic-con on the Avengers Panel his probably going to get the biggest cheer.

 

[psylockolussus]

Vin Diesel to voice a talking tree!

 

[cherokeesam]

Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader.

 

[Loki882]

James Spader playing Ultron is pretty dang surprising. It's such a totally out of left field casting choice. The girl from Revenge playing Sharon Carter is also surprising. Finally, Batista playing a role in the MCU.

 

[weezerspider]

There are four major ones in my mind:

1. Robert Redford
2. Glenn Close
3. James Spader
4. Bradley Cooper

I think the odd thing is that aside from RDJ, the lead characters at MCU seem to be offered to stranger actors. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if MCU had Cooper, I'd assume it would be for Cap or someone bigger than RR. The other thing is MCU's stranger choices are working quite well. Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth aren't in the top 50, maybe even 100 actors in Hollywood, but I couldn't ask for a better Cap or Thor.

 

[cherokeesam]

There are four major ones in my mind:

1. Robert Redford
2. Glenn Close
3. James Spader
4. Bradley Cooper

I think the odd thing is that aside from RDJ, the lead characters at MCU seem to be offered to stranger actors. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if MCU had Cooper, I'd assume it would be for Cap or someone bigger than RR. The other thing is MCU's stranger choices are working quite well. Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth aren't in the top 50, maybe even 100 actors in Hollywood, but I couldn't ask for a better Cap or Thor.

Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel don't seem so strange when you consider that their asking price for salary is a helluva lot cheaper for voice-acting than if they'd been offered live-action roles. It's more a case of Marvel being able to pad the cast of GOTG with really big names, but finding ways to get some of those names relatively cheap.

 

[Senator Pleasury]

James Spader.

I have actually been more surprised about directors' choice. Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Darkman) directing Spider-man??? Kenneth Branagh directing Thor????? Ang Lee directing Hulk????????????????????