“They were going to do it”: Before ‘Horrible’ Thor Experience, Idris Elba Was Ridiculously Close To Playing Another Marvel Superhero That Got Cancelled

Before ‘Horrible’ Thor Experience, Idris Elba Was Ridiculously Close To Playing Another Marvel Superhero That Got Cancelled

One of the best actors of all time, renowned for his superhit action movies and TV series, Idris Elba is loved by fans worldwide for his awesome on-screen performances. With blockbuster television shows like the five seasons Luther, the 50-year-old actor has even bagged a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Heimdall, which went on to become one of the most loved characters of all time.

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Idris Elba
Idris Elba

However, there was a time when Elba nearly had his own superhero movie in Marvel, though unfortunately, it ended up getting canceled, leaving him to star as the beloved gatekeeper in Thor, which he recalls as a ‘horrible’ experience.

Also Read: After Idris Elba’s Heimdall, Upcoming MCU Show Racebending Another Marvel Sorcerer

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Idris Elba Almost Had His Own Superhero Movie In Marvel Before Starring In Thor 2

Marvel's character Luke Cage
Marvel’s character Luke Cage

Also Read: “I was done with love”: Sexiest Man Alive Idris Elba Quit on Love, Did Not Want to Marry His Wife Sabrina Dhowre After Meeting Her For the First Time

While his role in Thor as the gatekeeper Heimdall is also one that is widely loved by fans worldwide, there was a time when Idris Elba almost had his own superhero Marvel movie. Sharing in an interview how he almost played the character of Luke Cage, which he found ‘pretty interesting’, he said,

“There was talk about Luke Cage at one time — I thought Luke Cage was a pretty interesting character. They were going to do it, but I don’t know what happened…”

Though he couldn’t get his own superhero movie where he played the comic book character, Marvel did end up creating a 2 seasons TV series on the character titled Marvel’s Luke Cage back in 2016. But while the show became popular among fans, it’s a shame to know that Idris Elba wasn’t the one starring in it as the main character.

Also Read: “You had me fooled”: Marvel Star Idris Elba Landed His Breakout Role After Winning a Bet Against Producer for Cult-Classic Series That Was Taught at Harvard

Idris Elba Hated Shooting Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Idris Elba as Heimdall in a still from Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Idris Elba as Heimdall in a still from Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Idris Elba also revealed in another interview how he hated shooting Thor: The Dark World, though his reason is rather genuine. At the time, he had only just wrapped shooting for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and that too, a mere four weeks after his father’s death, and as soon as he returned to England, he was asked to do reshoots for the Chris Hemsworth starrer movie.

Revealing how he didn’t really have a chance to even shake off his inner Mandela that he had acquired throughout the time shooting the biopic, he said,

“I didn’t quite shake it off. It was really weird,” he begins. “I’d just done eight months in South Africa. I came to England and the day I came back I had to do reshoots on Thor 2.” He raises an eyebrow. “And in the actual scene, my hair was different, my… [sighs exhasperatedly] I was like, ‘This is torture, man. I don’t want to do this.’ My agent said: ‘You have to, it’s part of the deal.’ ”

He further shared the heartbreaking moment while shooting Thor 2 when he realized the ‘horrible’ experience he was having.

“I’m actually falling down from a spaceship, so they had to put me in harness in this green-screen studio. And in between takes I was stuck there, fake hair stuck on to my head with glue, this f—— helmet, while they reset. And I’m thinking: ‘24 hours ago, I was Mandela’. When I walked into the set the extras called me Madiba. I was literally walking in this man’s boots. [Within] six months, the crew, we were all so in love with this film we had made. I was him. I was Mandela, practically,” he insists. “Then there I was, in this stupid harness, with this wig and this sword and these contact lenses. It ripped my heart out.”

All in all, while Idris Elba loved undertaking the honoring role of the hero and an icon whom he ‘rightly worships’, he wasn’t allowed to take his time after filming the movie to stay in Mandela’s essence, thus ending up making his experience one of those that he’d rather forget.
Perhaps, in some other universe, if Elba was given the opportunity to fully live up to his hero’s essence for as long as he wanted to and then return to reshooting Thor 2, he wouldn’t have hated the experience so much.
Source: HuffPost | The Telegraph
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Written by Mahin Sultan

An enthusiastic and eager learner looking for opportunities to expand her horizons and learning, Mahin Sultan is a hardworking and creative individual with multiplicity of skills and interests. She is fluent in English with a 4.5 months experience as a Content Writing Intern. She is a rather introverted and dorky kinda person at first meetings, but if you get on her good side, don't be surprised when you find her talking animatedly to you, even if it's in the middle of the road. A foodie, she loves to write, and spends her free time either with her nose buried in a good book or binge-watching K-dramas, new movies and TV serials (the awesome ones, obviously).

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