Two MCU Stars Nearly Played Captain America Before Landing Very Different Marvel Roles

Chris Evans feels almost impossible to replace as Captain America today, but Marvel once looked at a very different group of actors for the role. Among the names who wanted to play Steve Rogers were Chris Pratt and Wilson Bethel, two actors who eventually became important parts of the Marvel universe anyway.

The strange part is that neither actor ended up playing Captain America. Instead, both found roles that fit them in completely different ways. Looking back, their failed auditions turned out to be less like missed opportunities and more like the beginning of their eventual Marvel stories.

The casting process for Captain America: The First Avenger was reportedly much bigger than fans might expect. Marvel casting director Sarah Halley Finn considered a wide range of actors before Chris Evans finally took the role. According to casting information discussed on The Brandon Davis Show, Pratt and Bethel were both among the actors who auditioned for Steve Rogers.

Bethel apparently came particularly close. He went through several rounds of testing and even put on the Captain America suit. He also met director Joe Johnston and looked at storyboards for the movie. At that point, it was easy for Bethel to believe that the part could actually be his.

Losing the role was painful for the actor. Bethel has previously described the experience as one of the hardest disappointments of his career. But years later, he ended up getting another major Marvel role that could not have been more different from Captain America.

Bethel became Benjamin Poindexter, better known as Bullseye, in Daredevil. His performance turned him into one of the show’s most dangerous characters and gave him a very different place in the Marvel world. Instead of playing a symbol of heroism, he played a violent and unpredictable villain.

That role has become even more important as the Netflix Marvel shows have become part of the wider MCU story. In a strange way, Bethel went from almost playing one of Marvel’s biggest heroes to playing one of its most memorable villains.

Chris Pratt’s story is just as surprising. When he auditioned for Captain America, Pratt was still mainly known as Andy Dwyer from Parks and Recreation. He was funny, goofy, and not exactly the first person most people would imagine playing Steve Rogers.

Pratt did not get the Captain America role, but his audition clearly made an impression on Sarah Halley Finn. She remembered him and later believed he could be right for another Marvel character.

Finn explained that connection while discussing Pratt’s journey to Guardians of the Galaxy. “After that, I was paying attention,” she said, referring to his earlier Captain America audition.

When Guardians of the Galaxy was being cast, Finn pushed for Pratt to meet director James Gunn for the role of Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord. Gunn was not immediately convinced that Pratt was the right choice, but Finn continued to fight for him.

“I was stuck on him,” Finn said while explaining why she kept pushing Pratt toward the role.

That decision changed Pratt’s career. He became Star-Lord and went on to appear in three Guardians of the Galaxy movies as well as several Avengers films. The character gave Pratt the chance to combine comedy with action, something that eventually became a major part of his movie career.

Pratt and Bethel were not the only actors who came close to playing Captain America. John Krasinski and Wyatt Russell have also been linked to the casting process in different reports and discussions. Marvel clearly had plenty of options before deciding that Evans was the right person for Steve Rogers.

It is hard to imagine the MCU looking the same if Pratt or Bethel had actually won the part. Pratt as Captain America would have meant someone else playing Star-Lord, while Bethel taking the shield would have completely changed the path that eventually led him to Bullseye.

And that is what makes these casting stories so interesting. An actor can lose the role they want and still end up exactly where they need to be. Chris Pratt did not become Captain America, but he became Star-Lord. Wilson Bethel did not get the shield, but he became Bullseye.

In the end, Marvel’s decision to cast Chris Evans gave the studio the Captain America fans know today. But the actors who lost the role still found their own place in the MCU, and their stories show just how unpredictable superhero casting can be.

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