Marvel promised this actor that he would be important… and he didn’t even make the movie!

Zachary Levi was originally cast as Fandral, one of the three warriors, in Kenneth Branagh’s first Thor film. These fearsome Asgardian warriors, devotees of the God of Thunder in the Marvel comics, get their small moments of glory throughout the comics, scenes that Zachary Levi wanted to recreate in the MCU films. However, as our colleagues from SensaCine remind us, fate decided otherwise.

Indeed, the actor was ultimately unable to play the first part, a project he had to leave because he was still filming his flagship series Chuck: he was then replaced by Josh Dallas (Manifesto). But the latter has also been forced to turn down a role for the sequel, Thor: The Dark World, due to commitments to his own hit series Once Upon a Time. Marvel then turns to his first choice.

Zachary Levy, who is available this time, remains confused, as the Warriors 3 had little involvement in the first film. On the “Happy, Sad Confused” podcast, the actor reveals that he expressed his doubts privately to Kevin Feige, who then assured him that the characters would be important in this new opus, but also in the future of the saga. .

Feig said, “Hey, does Zach want to play this part?” And to be honest, listen… and I kept telling Kevin about it, for two reasons. First, I saw the first movie and I really didn’t feel like the Warriors Three were being used that way. And I said, “It will be again, because if it is, I really don’t want to do it, you know.” And he said, “No, no, no, that’s going to be a big part of this movie.” Not so much as it turned out.

This promise actually came before many complications hampered the filming of the second installment, such as the departure of Patty Jenkins as director and the arrival of Alan Taylor in his place, a change in leadership that led to a major change in the project – and in particular, about the three roles of the warriors in the story.

bad for good

Therefore, Zachary Levy’s future in the MCU was scuttled before it really started: he didn’t even last a movie and a half. In the next installment, Thor: Ragnarok, he does return with the rest of the warriors to finally die in a duel against the film’s big villain, Hela, the goddess of death played by Cate Blanchett.

And even with that brief appearance, her role was cut short when the line her character was supposed to say before she died was cut. According to the actor, they actually filmed a scene where Fandral ran towards Hela and shouted: “For Asgard!“.

However, the character’s return to the MCU is still possible now that the door to the multiverse is open. But Zachary Levi has since continued his journey with the opposing camp: DC has offered him the lead role and his own saga of Shazam movies starting in 2019, including the second installment, Shazam! The Rage of the Gods was released on March 24th.

The first part of Shazam should reappear on Amazon Prime Video. Thor’s Saga, meanwhile, can be found on Disney+.