“It’s as big as an Avengers movie!” You’d think that would be one of the best things any MCU film could be described as, given that Kevin Feige and the fans are always looking to recapture the buzz of Marvel‘s team-up flicks. And yet we’ve just learned that there is a situation where that’s a negative, thanks to The Marvels. Speaking of which, Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson now belong to the same bizarre club thanks to the latest poster for Loki season 2 which looks like one of the trickster god’s own pranks.
The Marvels is the most expensive MCU movie not to have Avengers in the title
What a week it’s been for The Marvels! First, we thought it was the (joint) cheapest MCU movie ever made and then it turns out that could not be further from the truth. As the significance of the sequel’s immense c. $275 million price tag is analyzed, we’ve come to realize that it’s actually the costliest Marvel Studios production ever that’s not an Avengers movie. Other extremely expensive outings to come out this year include Quantumania and Secret Invasion, which didn’t exactly accrue all the acclaim, to put it mildly, so that’s maybe not the most encouraging sign for the fall’s most anticipated movie.
Now Tom Hiddleston knows how Brie Larson feels as Loki season 2 poster visits the uncanny valley
Talking of unencouraging signs, remember when some The Marvels standees were spotted out in the wild that were so airbrushed it looked like Brie Larson had been recast? Well, Marvel’s at it again with the latest poster for Loki season 2. If this was a bit of promotion for a Hot Toys action figure, we wouldn’t blink, but are you really trying to tell us this is the real Tom Hiddleston? As a fellow WGTC team-member put it, “Tom looks like if Madame Tussaud had made a wax figure of him based on somebody’s verbal description only.” This poster’s burdened by something, but it sure ain’t glorious purpose.
Talk about What If….?: The MCU would’ve been very different with these alternate castings
Marvel might be trying to turn him into a different person in the Loki posters, but at least Tom Hiddleston was perfectly cast in the first place. It’s mind-blowing, then, to consider the near-miss MCU castings that almost changed the entire franchise. Vanity Fair has shared a fascinating look at the various actors who narrowly missed out on playing iconic roles, some of which you might’ve heard before — John Krasinski as Captain America? Nah, he’s our 5-minute Reed Richards, thanks — others that are brand new — Chadwick Boseman was almost Drax?! This is just another reminder that casting director Sarah Halley Finn is an underrated MCU superstar. If she made the wrong call on any of these occasions, Earth-616 would be a very different place.