Zachary Levi Says Kevin Feige Told Him His Role in THOR 2 Would Be Much Bigger Than It Turned Out To Be

Zechariah Levi he just came off the premiere of his superhero sequel Shazam: Fury of the Godsbut before the star became a DC hero, he had a breakthrough in the Marvel franchise, even if it didn’t turn out to be the role he expected it to be.

In a recent interview on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast (via GamesRadar), Levi explained that he was originally cast as Fandral in 2011’s Thor, but couldn’t due to scheduling conflicts. Actor Josh Dallas ended up in the part, but didn’t return for the sequel, so Levi took over, but has now said he thinks he’s the head of Marvel Kevin Feige sold him the character, saying it would be more important than it turned out to be.

“Feige’s like, ‘Hey, would Zach want to fill this role?’ And to be honest, look…and I insisted on talking to Kevin about it, for two reasons: one, I saw the first movie and I didn’t feel like Warriors Three was being used in that great way. so, because if it is, I don’t really want to do it, you know?’ And he’s like, ‘No, no, no, that’s going to be a huge part of this movie.’ Not as much, as it turned out.”

Fandral was also one of the victims in Thor 3, where he was unceremoniously killed off. Even his punchline was cut, Levi revealed during a panel at the Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in 2017, per Screen Rant.

“What’s on the editing room floor is me attacking Hela and getting impaled and saying ‘To Asgard.’ No shit, I had my last line, my last words in the Marvel U were “For Asgard. Room floor cut. And when I shot it, it was… yeah, that was a shame.” .

It’s not that Levi ended up in obscurity. He’s done quite well for himself, but I’m sure if he could go back in hindsight, he would have cast his Marvel role more carefully than he did. He is the best Shazam! we could ask though, so in the end he was fine.