As Thor: Ragnarok‘s release draws near and early buzz predicts the film will be a Box Office smash, other news about the cast has started coming out as well. One of the interesting ones features “Life finds a way” himself Jeff Goldblum who plays The Grandmaster in the third installment in the Thor franchise.
Marvel Studios has shown that they can grab A-List actors and actresses and bring them into their films with little to no problem. We’ve had the likes of Michael Douglas, Glen Close, and Robert Redford pop up in serious hitting roles for the studio. So it comes to no surprise that Jeff Goldblum was seen as a potential cast member in an earlier Marvel film but landed the role as The Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok instead.
The main man producing these Marvel films, Kevin Feige, revealed that originally they wanted Goldbum for a different role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – specifically, the first Captain America movie, Captain America: The First Avenger.
“Who?” you might be asking. Well. Shut up and I’ll tell you.
Jeff Goldbum was originally tapped to play the role of Senator Brandt, the man who recruited Steve Rogers for the USO.
In a recent interview with Uproxx, Feige said:
“And we had come close. I mean, I’ll tell you, I think we spoke to him or offered him a role in Captain America: The First Avenger. I think the role of the senator that was part of that USO tour in the first Captain America film. And he either wasn’t available or wasn’t interested or whatever. And thank goodness, because that would have just been a small thing and instead we got to wait for the Grandmaster, which is about as amazing as a Jeff Goldblum ‘Goldblum-iness’ could be.”
Instead of going with Goldblum, the powers that be decided to go with Michael Brandon instead and I would say that was a fine choice. The character of The Grandmaster fits more with Goldblum’s acting talent and comes off as more of fun character for the actor.
Whatever the reason was for Marvel Studios not casting Goldbum in the first Captain America; it was definitely a good one. The Grandmaster is more than likely going to still every scene the character is in the new Thor film.
Do you think Jeff Goldblum is a perfect fit for Thor: Ragnarok? Let us know in the comments!