See how the Avengers nearly looked: six actors who turned Marvel down or just missed out 

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It could all have been so different. Sometimes the actors said no, other times it was the studio. The following are just some of the stars who were up for a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but either turned it down or lost it to someone else…

Cruise was "attached" to the role (ie he took a visible interest) back in 2004, but couldn\'t see it working out. He said, "They came to me at a certain point and… When I do something, I wanna do it right. If I commit to something, it has to be done in a way that I know it\'s gonna be something special. And as it was lining up, it just didn\'t feel to me like it was gonna work." Meaning: he didn\'t like the script. Thank the movie gods for that, because as we all know, Robert Downey Jr basically lifted the whole MCU off the ground with

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Incidentally, Sam Rockwell (who later played Justin Hammer in

) was also within a whisker of the part: "There was a list and he had a spot on it," director Jon Favreau later said.

Tatum is the right build for the hammer-wielding thunder god, but Marvel rejected him. "

I think they\'re looking for someone more Nordic-looking," he told MTV News before the film came out. Another actor who auditioned for Thor was Tom Hiddleston, whose audition you can see in this DVD extra from

He ended up with an arguable better role – Thor\'s naughty adoptive brother Loki.

Blunt is one of the few actors to our knowledge to have turned Marvel down twice. "It was never the right time, really, and it just didn\'t work out scheduling-wise

," she said of her not-quite roles as Peggy Carter and Black Widow. In the latter case, she was thwarted when rival studio Fox reportedly chose to exercise their contractual right to cast her in

(US) he was the epitome of wholesome American boy-next-doorishness. And he\'s married to the serial nearly-Marvellous Emily Blunt. Just right for the Cap, right? "The Captain America thing was hilarious," he told Digital Spy. "I had so much fun doing it and got to wear the suit and screen-test and sign my life away that I wouldn\'t tell anyone – so they\'re going to kill me now, thanks." Of course the role went to Chris "Not That One" Evans in the end, but John bears no grudges.

"Chris is a good friend and very good at what he does, so I was so happy to see him do it."

After Marvel boss Kevin Feige said they weren\'t pursuing former Hulk Edward Norton to repside the role, preferring to seek "an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members."

(OUCH), the name that came up again and again was Joaquin Phoenix. Thankfully for Mark Ruffalo, Joaquin was busy growing a beard and pretending to be retired from acting at the time. 

director Jon Favreau reportedly offered McAdams the role first, but she wasn\'t interested. She will, however, take up an as-yet-unnamed role alongside Benedict Cumberbatch

. And yes, we know she looks like a robot in this digital rendering of her would-be appearance. Can\'t be helped. 

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