Being Spider-Man was basically Tom Holland’s destiny!
Observing an MCU film can cause you to believe that everything is probable to happen, and some of the performers and directors have demonstrated this in their own lives.
Many people have had their biggest Marvel dreams come true thanks to a combination of serendipity, manifestation, and plain hard effort.
Below are 21 celebrities whose Marvel fantasies are realized:
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
1. Ryan Reynolds initially appeared in the Deadpool comics in 2004. In a subsequent issue, the character described his unmasked face as “Ryan Reynolds crossed with a shar-pei,” prompting the actor to express interest in playing him in a film.
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Reynolds drew the attention of 20th Century Fox, but the character was introduced in X-Men Origins: Wolverine rather than a standalone feature. As a result, he hand-selected writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, as well as director Tim Miller, to ensure that Deadpool stayed true to the original material.
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After four years of development hell, leaked test footage encouraged fans to advocate for the film’s full release. Deadpool was ultimately released in theaters in 2016.
2. At the age of 13, Xóchitl Gómez considered herself too young to play America Chavez, who was supposed to be around the age of 18. She submitted her audition tape despite her fears that Marvel would reject her.
Source: Jay Maidment /© Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / © Marvel Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection
Michael Waldron, scriptwriter for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, was reimagining the character as a young teen rather than a young adult, so Gómez got a call back only a few months later.
That led to Gómez tried hard stunt traning several hours a day, so that “if [she] potentially got a test audition, [she] could blow their minds.” Marvel eventually flew her to London for a screen test, and she was cast a few days later.
3. In 2020, John Krasinski was asked by Comicbook.com: “I know you can’t answer if you’re going to play Mister Fantastic, but you have to play Mister Fantastic, right?”
Source: Jeff Spicer / Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
Krasinski said it was “the best question-answer ever.” He added, “I think to be a part of the Marvel world would be amazing anyway, and the fact that people would even consider me for that level of a part would be amazing. I genuinely have had no conversations or don’t know anything that’s happening with that.”
2 years later, in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Krasinski made an astonishing cameo as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic from a parallel universe.
4. Samuel L. Jackson was a great Marvel fan who would buy an entire box of comic books from his local comic store on a daily basis. As a result, when The Ultimates writer Mark Millar modeled the rebooted Nick Fury after his favorite actor in 2002, Jackson took note.
Source: Sony / Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
Jackson told his agents to contact Marvel, who excused for utilizing his likeness without his consent and pledged to cast him as Nick Fury in any future movie adaptations.
Marvel started launching the Iron Man project a couple of years later, and director Jon Favreau included Nick Fury’s post-credits scene as an Easter egg. The sequence, of course, spawned the Avengers series, which has kept Jackson in the role since 2008.
5. Elizabeth Olsen shared during an interview with Screen Rant during the Avengers: Age of Ultron press tour that she’d want to see a future for Wanda Maximoff based on the House of M plot from the comics.
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Olsen said, “If she could have two fake babies and everyone tell her that they don’t really exist, and then her just go nuts, that would be unbelievable, but I don’t think they’re gonna do that. It might be a little too dark for the Marvel universe.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, released seven years later, followed the precise narrative stated by Olsen.
6. Wanda’s future was once again altered in 2018 when Elizabeth Olsen told Elle that she wanted to adjust the neckline on her character’s costume so “it would just not be a cleavage corset.”
Source: Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
Her new Scarlet Witch outfit arrived in the WandaVision finale three years later, and she took part in remodeling it.
Source: Marvel Studios / Disney+ / Via youtube.com
She knows what she has to do better than anybody, having done this for years now,” director Matt Shakman shared in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “It’s one thing to look amazing. It’s another thing to actually function.”
7. When Marvel announced that a Shang-Chi film was in the works in 2018, Simu Liu tweeted at them about the possibility of playing the protagonist.
Source: Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
Although Marvel’s higher-ups were unaware of the tweet, casting supervisor Sarah Finn told the Hollywood Reporter that Liu underwent “a long and arduous audition process, and he completely nailed every audition.”
At San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, Marvel revealed Liu as Shang-Chi. He made his MCU debut two years later in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
8. Andrew Garfield would practice Tobey Maguire’s lines from Spider-Man (2002) in the mirror while studying acting at the University of London.
Source: Sony Pictures Entertainment / Via youtube.com
Garfield admitted on The Graham Norton show, “I was very high at the time.
Source: Sony / Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
In The Amazing Spider-Man, Garfield portrayed a fresh Peter Parker (2012). Then, in Spider-Man: No Way Home, he appeared alongside Maguire, whom he refers to as “my Spider-Man” (2021).
9. Director Jon Watts was eager to produce a coming-of-age picture after making two low-budget films. When Marvel asked him in for a meeting after being impressed with his movie Cop Car, he “took all of the ideas [he] had been working on and kind of projected them” onto the studio’s possible Spider-Man relaunch.
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Watts, at first, didn’t believe he would be hired, but he kept on “bothering” Marvel and Sony executives. Because he “thought it was going to be really good practice for pitching to big studios,” he gave them a mood reel and numerous storyboarded sections.
Finally, he was hired to direct Spider-Man: Homecoming and remained for the remainder of the trilogy. He explained to Den of Geek, “I haven’t gone back and watched that thing that I made, but I think it’s pretty close. I was really clear upfront about how I saw the movie. And everyone was on board, so I feel like we captured that tone.”
10. Tom Holland remarked in a 2013 red carpet interview that he’d like to portray Spider-Man “in 10 years’ time.”
Source: Sony / Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
However, he found himself in a seven-month audition procedure for the job within just a couple years. He had a successful screen test with Robert Downey Jr. when it was down to him and six other performers, and then he “rang [his] mum afterward and was like, ‘I think I’ve got it.'”
Source: Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
He and another actor came to Atlanta six weeks later for a screen test with Chris Evans. He didn’t realize he’d earned the part until he saw the news on the internet.
Holland shared with Variety, “I got my computer…I type in ‘Marvel.’ I’ve still got the article saved on my computer. It said, ‘We would like to introduce our new Spider-Man, Tom Holland.’ I broke my computer, because I flipped it up in the air.
11. Scarlett Johansson had a meeting with Jon Favreau and Kevin Feige one year prior to the pre-launch of Iron Man 2, to talk about possible Marvel parts for her, Black Widow, for example.
Source: Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
Before her next meeting with Favreau, she allegedly dyed her hair red to help persuade him that she fit the part. She also stated to him, “If this doesn’t work out, I’m an actor for hire, so call me anytime.”
Favreau intitially cast Emily Blunt for the role. When she was unable to accept the role due to a scheduling difficulty, he contacted Johansson, who later said to Parade, “I’ve basically made a career out of being second choice.”
12. Vincent D’Onofrio was not prepared to bid farewell to Wilson Fisk when Netflix stopped Daredevil. According to Screen Rant, he said, “I so badly want to play that character again. I love that character. I just have to wait for Marvel to ask me.”
He also supported a fan-created campaign to make Daredevil return.
Source: Netflix / Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
When Kevin Feige determined that Kingpin would be the most suitable villain for Hawkeye on Disney+, D’Onofrio ultimately had the opportunity to reprise his role.
Variety just revealed that Disney+ is developing a new Daredevil series. However, Marvel has yet to make any official announcements about the show, so we’ll have to wait and see if D’Onofrio makes another cameo (in a flashback or otherwise).
13. Monica Rambeau was first introduced to Teyonah Parris when fans began dream-casting her in the role on Twitter. She explained to the A.V. Club, “That initially piqued my interest.”
Source: Marvel Studios / Disney+ / Via youtube.com
She mentioned in the WandaVision episode of Marvel Studios Assembled that she asked her agency if she could be hired in a secret Marvel role some years down the road, “What if it’s Monica Rambeau?
Parris shared in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “I feel so special and honored to be able to walk in her shoes and bring her story to life. I hope that me playing this character (a) gives a group of people who are underrepresented a chance to see themselves, and (b) seeing my face and my Black body helps them engage with Black women and our humanity.”
14. Elsa Pataky felt a connection to the Thor legend when she was 15, so she had his emblem tattooed on her arm. Vogue Australia quoted her as saying, “The legend he had was so beautiful and I wanted to keep it.”
Source: David Livingston / Getty Images
Pataky met and got married to Chris Hemsworth in 2010, who was cast as Thor 1 year later.
Source: Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
Pataky was cast as a stand-in for for a kiss scene in Thor: The Dark World, bringing her extraordinary bond with the god of thunder to the big screen.
15. Chris Hemsworth is 6’3″ tall “, therefore when he wanted to apply for a role that he was “totally wrong for, physically”, he would lie and say he was shorter, but that completely changed with Thor. Hemsworth shared with Radio Times, “The brief for the audition for Thor said: must be over 6’1″, which I’d never seen before!”
Source: Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Disney
He thought his initial audition with director Kenneth Branagh went well, but he never received a response – while his younger brother Liam got a lot further in the process!
Chris was both frustrated and inspired by Liam’s achievement, and he decided to give it another attempt. According to W Magazine, “My manager called them up and said, ‘You know, [Liam]’s got an older brother. Can we bring him back in?'”
Source: Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
“It’s a little family, sibling rivalry sort of kicked up in me. Then it moved pretty quick from there. It was cool,” Chris added.
16. When Taika Waititi was first approached about directing Thor: Ragnarok, he made his own sizzle reel, which had snippets from other films paired to Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.”
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Feige agreed right away that the song would be excellent for the soundtrack, but Led Zeppelin is infamous for refusing to allow their songs to be utilized in films.
When music supervisor Dave Jordan eventually secured the go-ahead to utilize “Immigrant Song” in a teaser trailer as well as the film itself, the movie was virtually finished.
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“When we had the first cut of the trailer and showed Led Zep, they understood how perfect the song was for this character. I think it wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t start the conversation with them really, really early on,” Waititi said in an interview with Business Insider.
17. After Creed, director Ryan Coogler pondered what type of movie he wanted to make next., he “was grappling with something [he’d] kind of been scraping at [his] whole life, which is [his] cultural identity, and what it means to be African.” After the shoot, he intended to fly to Africa.
Source: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images for Disney
Then Marvel contacted, and his pitch for Black Panther was informed by those concepts. According to Rolling Stone, he said, “I was very honest about the idea I wanted to explore in this film, which is what it means to be African. That was one of the first things I talked about. And they were completely interested.”
Source: Matt Kennedy /© Marvel / © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection
As a result, he traveled across Africa, from Cape Town to Lesotho to Kenya. His encounters with people and the locations he visited “informed as much about the movie as any of [Marvel’s] comics.”
18. Jon Favreau lobbied for the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man to be cast by Robert Downey Jr., but Marvel said to him, “under no circumstances are we prepared to hire him for any price.”
Source: Paramount/Marvel Studios/Courtesy Everett Collection
Downey reacted to Favreau’s bad news by saying, “With your permission, I’m going to hold out hope”, and it prompted the filmmaker to defend him one again.
Source: Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
Favreau was able to bring Downey a second screen test, and he got the role. For the next 11 years, he was Iron Man.
19. Sam Rockwell was also considered for the role of Tony Stark, but he didn’t make it through the screen tests.
Source: Bruce Glikas / Bruce Glikas / WireImage for American Buffalo / Via Getty
However, for Iron Man 2, Favreau reintroduced him to the MCU, casting him as the villain Justin Hammer. He explained to the A.V. Club, “In a way, I think Jon was basically saying, ‘This is your chance to be Tony Stark. This will be your version of Tony Stark.'”
Source: Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
Rockwell added, “We gave [Hammer] the glasses and kind of sleazed him up a little. But that’s exactly right. It was a chance to do Tony Stark.”
20. In 2013, Barry Keoghan used Twitter to request that Stan Lee give a superhero role for him.
Source: Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
His wish came true six years later when he was cast as Druig in Eternals, and he celebrated on Twitter.
“There aren’t a lot of opportunities where I’m from [Summerhill, Dublin]. To see a lad from a working-class area on screen — it’ll give kids that chance, not only in acting but in other things to go, ‘He’s up there doing a superhero movie, maybe I could do this, maybe I could do that.’ So I hope that comes across,” he said in an interview with CNET.
21. Finally, when Marvel originally approached Brian Tyree Henry about playing Phastos in Eternals, he inquired about how much weight he’d have to shed, to which director Chloé Zhao replied, “What are you talking about? We want you exactly as you are.”
Source: Marvel Studios / Via youtube.com
Henry shared with Variety, “It just triggered me to be an 11-year-old kid who is watching these superhero movies, and not ever seeing anyone like me reflected.”
“I would take these posters and put them in my locker, and just hope that one day there will be somebody representing me in the way you know that I am,” he added.
