Thanks to an interview with Variety, we have learned that Chris Hemsworth, most famous for his role as Thor, almost became Duke of G.I. Joe: Rise Of Cobra.
Speaking to Variety, “I got very close to ‘GI Joe,’” he says of the action hero played by Channing Tatum in the 2009 summer hit. “I got very close to Gambit in the Wolverine ‘X-Men’ movies.” Instead, Taylor Kitsch was cast. “At the time I was upset,” Hemsworth says. “I was running out of money. But if I played either of those characters, I wouldn’t have been able to play Thor.”
Of course in the end, it all turned out good for him. His portrayal of MCU’s God of Thunder Hammers, is highly acclaimed among us midgardians.
Life is indeed strange.
SilverOptimus says
News Post: Chris Hemsworth Almost Played Duke In G.I. Joe: Rise Of Cobra
Xerofall says
He dodged a bullet, eh?
SmokeBellew says
You just know if it had happened, there would've been a vocal segment of the fanbase complaining about him not being an American.
Bulkhead says
Would have been a better choice than Magic Mike.
sevenlima says
Back in 2009-2010, he was busy with star trek.
SmokeBellew says
dereksmith2003 says
The movie may have been a box office bomb but let's face it...for what it was, it was ok. A live-action adaptation of a campy 1980s cartoon series translated to be more relevant in 21st century culture. It had MUCH room for improvement - CC whole design and backstory, Tatum's cardboard personality, script, Snake Eye's mask lips, terrible Neo/viper design, etc - but it also got some things right - storm shadow and snake eyes were pretty badass, baroness was hot, scarlett was hot - I mean that's all we need, right?
All jokes aside, Hemsworth as Duke could have been great but not for the character as written for ROC. That could have dragged his, relatively new at that time, career down. I feel like a baseline movie to establish history of GI Joe would be good. If they really want to keep the whole "international fighting force" rather than our beloved real American heroes, then they could move on to spinoffs/sequels establishing different teams around the world who wind up facing threats from various portions of Cobra and different main characters. Once in a while they can make combined storyline movies. Just a thought
Xerofall says
I'm not sure it would be considered a box office bomb. With a $175 million dollar budget, it made $302.5 million worldwide and spawned a sequal with a $115 million budget, making even more at $375.7 million.
dereksmith2003 says
True, Zero, maybe I chose the wrong words. The ratings were poor but in terms of financial standing it turned a good profit
SmokeBellew says
I try not to take this stuff too seriously, so I enjoyed Rise of Cobra. It was a fun flick and I can rewatch it periodically and still enjoy it. I can't say the same for Retaliation. It just feels like a low-budget, SciFi Channel flick from the early-naughties to me. John Chu was in way over his head and it shows in the production and editing. All that said, both flicks were failures in that they just didn't get the kiddos interested in G.I. Joe. They made money (we think...without knowing marketing and distribution costs, it's hard to say, but the fact they made a second and want to make a third says money was made) and they entertained the average film-goer, but they didn't sell toys or jumpstart the brand for a new generation, and that's their real purpose.
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