by Josh Starnes, CMRO Editor
Last-Minute Thor Cast-Change as Producers Eye June Start Date
Conflicting schedules are forcing a last minute cast-change to Thor 2 as the film prepares to begin shooting, according to a report from Variety.
Joshua Dallas, who played Fandral — one of the Warriors Three — in the first Thor has been forced to opt out of the sequel due to his commitment to ABC’s Once.
“We really tried to make the schedule work but we couldn’t get it done,” Dallas said.
Dallas will be replaced by Zachary Levi of NBC’s Chuck and Disney’s Tangled. Levi had originally been cast as Fandral in 2010 but had to back out of the film when NBC picked up Chuck for a fourth season at the last minute.
The change was required in part by Thor 2‘s ambitious production schedule. Producers are eyeing a July start-date for shooting under the direction of Alan Taylor, sources say, in order to get the film wrapped and finished in time for its November 2013 bow.
Pre-production has been ongoing, sources say, and Robert Rodat is reportedly still re-writing Don Payne’s first draft.
On Once Dallas plays Prince Charming on the show which flashes back and forth between a world where all fairy tale creatures live and the present day town in the Northeast where they are trapped with no memory of their previous lives. Once was picked up by Disney-owned ABC for a second season following its successful premier.
One Response to “Last Minute Changes Come to Thor”
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Yet another James-Bond moment in the Marvel Cinema Universe. That’s 3 now (Terrence Howard originally played Rhodey in Iron Man and was replaced by Don Cheadle for Iron Man 2; and Edward Norton originally played Bruce Banner/Hulk in The Incredible Hulk and was replaced by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers). And the producers says they will keep doing it to keep the series going,specifically concerning Robert Downey Jr. and his role of Tony Stark/Iron Man.
I don’t mind the replacements to a certain point but it really does become distracting after a point. By the end of the series we’ll have a completely different cast playing all the same roles. I think it kinda ruins the integrity of the series as a whole, because people will begin to have a hard time keeping track of all the faces of Bruce Banner, Tony Stark.
Having one actor play a role in a series helps us as viewers get familiar and comfortable watching the series, we get used to them and changing that all the time is confusing, now we have to re-learn this person we thought we knew.