Zachary Levi Says Kevin Feige Told Him His Role in THOR 2 Was Going to Be Way Bigger Than It Turned Out to Be

Zachary Levi is fresh off the premiere of his superhero sequel Shazam: Fury of the Gods, but before the star was a DC hero, he had a turn in the Marvel franchise, though it didn’t turn out to be the role he was expecting it to be.

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

"Feige is like, 'Hey, would Zach want to take this role again?' 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 really feel like the Warriors Three were utilized in that great of a way. And I was like, 'Is that going to be the case again, because if it is, I don’t really want to do that, you know?' And he’s like, 'No, no, no, it’s gonna be a huge part of this movie.' Not so much, as it turned out."

Fandral was also one of the casualties of Thor 3 where he was killed pretty unceremoniously. His final line was also cut, Levi revealed during a panel at the Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in 2017, per Screen Rant.

"What is on the cutting room floor is me charging at Hela and getting impaled and going 'For Asgard.’ No s***, I had my last line, my last words in the Marvel Universe were 'For Asgard.' Cutting room floor. And when I shot that, it was… yeah, it was a bummer."

It’s not like Levi ended up in obscurity. He’s done pretty well for himself, but I’m sure if he could go back with hindsight, he’d have chosen his Marvel role more carefully. He’s the best Shazam! we could ask for though, so it all worked out in the end.