Getting a chance to direct or star in a Marvel production may seem like a dream come true, but for some, that dream comes to an end when their vision doesn't match the studio's.
Others end up losing out on that dream because Marvel decides to go in a different direction — or because they slip up.
Here are 21 actors and directors who quit, were fired, or were recast by Marvel and why:
1. Andrew Garfield played Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 — and he was supposed to reprise the role in The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
In 2014, he was scheduled to announce the upcoming movie alongside then-Sony CEO Kaz Harai at a post-World Cup gala in Rio de Janeiro. However, after already arriving late, Garfield wasn't feeling very well, so he had to drop out of the event last minute.
Unfortunately, Harai cut the announcement from his presentation, and the Sony executives were so upset with Garfield that they fired him and canceled the movie altogether.
Afterwards, Sony negotiated with Marvel to introduce a new version of Peter Parker into the MCU. Garfield finally got a chance to reprise his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
2. Before Garfield, Tobey Maguire played Peter Parker in Spider-Man. However, reportedly, a salary dispute nearly cost him the sequel.
He reportedly made $4 million for the first movie, whereas producer Laura Ziskin was paid more than $30 million. Maguire allegedly felt that his original offer for the sequel was unfair compared to Ziskin's previous paycheck.
Then, he began reporting back problems. Even though he'd been known to have back problems before, the studio heads allegedly thought he was using the issue as a threat, so they offered his role to Jake Gyllenhaal.
Ron Meyer — the then-president of Vivendi Universal and Maguire's future father-in-law — stepped into the negotiations. Maguire reportedly had to agree to medical tests to prove his back was in good enough condition, then recieved $17 million for the sequel.
3. Scott Derrickson directed Doctor Strange, and he was initially slated to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as well.
However, in a mutual agreement, he left the project over — as Marvel put it in a statement to Variety — "creative differences."
Cowriter Steve Cargill — who left the sequel at the same time — told CinemaBlend that Derickson "wanted to do one movie, and Marvel wanted to do another movie," so the two of them decided to make The Black Phone instead.
So Sam Raimi agreed to direct his first superhero movie since the widely panned Spider-Man 3.
4. Donald Glover and his brother Stephen were going to be writers, producers, and showrunners for an animated adult Deadpool series on FX.
However, both the Glovers and FX withdrew from the project over "creative differences."
In retaliation, Donald shared a spoof version of his "Finale" episode script on Twitter, which featured Deadpool taking shots at Marvel and theorizing the series was canceled because "it just feels like everyone wants something different, but no one wants to do anything different to get it."
Stephen also theorized that the "hilarious" Taylor Swift episode they wrote "definitely was the last straw."
5. Patty Jenkins was the original director for Thor: The Dark World.
However, only three months after signing on, she left the production because she "did not believe that [she] could make a good movie out of the script that they were planning on doing."
She told Vanity Fair, "I think it would have been a huge deal —it would have looked like it was my fault. It would’ve looked like, 'Oh my God, this woman directed it and she missed all these things.' That was the one time in my career where I really felt like, Do this with [another director] and it’s not going to be a big deal. And maybe they’ll understand it and love it more than I do."
Alan Taylor replaced her, but he wasn't satisfied with the direction Marvel took, either. His version of the movie was dramatically reworked during post-production.
6. Robin Williams was initially cast as the voice of the titular character in 1986's Howard the Duck.
However, the movie was filmed before the voice role was filmed, so the puppeteers read Howard's lines — and the flapping of his bill matched their delivery. Williams' signature style of improvisation was confined to pre-filmed movements.
After three days, he quit because he felt he was "being handcuffed in order to match the flapping duck’s bill."
So Chip Zien's agent called him and told him that there was a ticket waiting for him at the airport counter and he needed to get there ASAP.
7. Zachary Levi was initially cast as Fandral in Thor.
However, he had to drop out because of a scheduling conflict with Chuck.
Marvel replaced him with Stuart Townsend.
8. However, Townsend didn't last long in the role of Fandral.
Right before production was set to begin, he was replaced over "creative differences."
Josh Dallas took over the role.
9. However, Dallas only played Fandral in Thor.
"The timing wasn’t right," and he had to give up the role because of his commitment to Once Upon a Time.
"I’m bummed about it because I had such a great experience and great time making the first film and was really excited about coming back. Marvel and Disney tried to make it work," he told Entertainment Weekly.
Finally, Zachary Levi returned to the role, and he stayed in it until the character's death in Thor: Ragnarok.
10. Damion Poitier already had a small role (Man #1) in The Avengers when the director decided to film an extra scene featuring Thanos. Since the role hadn't been cast yet, Poitier stepped in.
His appearance as Thanos was uncredited, and the role was recast to Josh Brolin in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Poitier may have been replaced as Thanos, but he moved on to a new role in the MCU. He made an appearance as one of Crossbones' mercenaries in Captain America: Civil War. He also did stunt work in that film as well as for Thor: The Dark World.
11. Edgar Wright originally signed on to write and direct Ant-Man. He was attached to the project as early as 2003, when he cowrote a treatment for Artisan Entertainment.
During the early days of Marvel Studios, he showed the treatment to founder Avi Arad and president Kevin Feige, who agreed to use it as a basis for their MCU script.
He shot a test reel, delivered several more drafts, and championed Paul Rudd for the lead role. However, right before filming was set to begin, Marvel decided he needed to rewrite the script again and pushed back production.
When the studio still wasn't satisfied with his version of the script, they outsourced a draft to their in-house writers. However, this new version reportedly lacked Wright's signature voice, so he decided to leave Ant-Man two months before filming finally began.
Peyton Reed replaced Wright as director.
12. Emma Fuhrmann played Cassie Lang after the five-year time jump in Avengers: Endgame.
During its Investor Day the following year, Disney announced that the character would return in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — but she would be played by Kathryn Newton.
Sadly, Fuhrmann didn't know her role had been recast until the public announcement was made.
13. Ed Norton played Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk, and he planned a sequel as well.
"I laid out a two-film thing: The origin and then the idea of Hulk as the conscious dreamer, the guy who can handle the trip," he told the New York Times.
Initially, Marvel was onboard with his The Dark Knight-esque duology, but "as it turned out, that wasn’t what they wanted."
In a statement, Marvel said, "We have made the decision to not bring Ed Norton back to portray the title role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers. Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members."
Then, Norton's agent released a statement, which said, "This offensive statement from Kevin Feige at Marvel is a purposefully misleading, inappropriate attempt to paint our client in a negative light. Here are the facts: two months ago, Kevin called me and said he wanted Edward to reprise the role of Bruce Banner in The Avengers...This past Wednesday, after several weeks of civil, uncontentious discussions, but before we had come to terms on a deal, a representative from Marvel called to say they had decided to go in another direction with the part."
Regardless, Marvel continued in its new direction with Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner.
14. Rodri Martín was invited to reprise his role as the Spanish voiceover actor for Pietro Maximoff in WandaVision. Previously, he recorded the Spanish dub for Evan Peters' character in the X-Men franchise.
Martín shared his good news on Twitter, but he quickly deleted the post and locked his account.
However, the damage had already been done. The rumor that Peters would reprise his X-Men role spread, spoiling his return in Episode Five.
Marvel fired Martín, and they hired Manuel Gimeno — who did the Spanish dub for Matt Murdock in Daredevil — to record the voiceover for Pietro instead.
15. After directing the MCU's three Spider-Man movies, Jon Watts was slated to direct the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot next.
However, after spending seven years working on the Spider-Man trilogy, he decided that he needed to take a break from superhero movies.
In a statement, Marvel Studios said, "We were looking forward to continuing our work with him to bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU but understand and are supportive of his reasons for stepping away."
Watts and Marvel Studios both hope to work together in the future. He did not drop out of the Spider-Man franchise, and Sony expects him to return for future installments.
Currently, no replacement director has been confirmed for Fantastic Four.
16. Terrence Howard had a three-picture deal with Marvel, but he only played Rhodey/War Machine in Iron Man.
During salary negotiations for the sequel, he was only offered 12.5% of the pay his initial contract promised.
On Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, he said, "It turns out that the person I helped become Iron Man...took the money that was supposed to go to me and pushed me out."
He was replaced by Don Cheadle.
17. Dillon Casey played Will Daniels/Hive on two episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
At the time, he had an opioid addiction, which contributed to poor onset behavior. He told the Toronto Star, "I was a 31-year-old man crying and yelling at work. This was bottom and there was no coming back."
Later, he got a call that he was being let go the next episode. Apologizing, he explained he was going through a difficult time and said, "I don’t blame you for killing [my character]. I’d do the same thing."
Soon after, however, he began his journey to recovery. In 2018, he entered a rehabilitation facility, and he's now sober.
18. Joe Johnston directed Captain America: The First Avenger.
He discussed "the idea of doing a sequel back in the '40s," but also, "told the Marvel guys that there is a character that [he's] really interested in called 'The Winter Soldier' and that if, 'you guys decide to make that picture [he] would definitely be interested.'"
However, following The Avengers, Marvel decided to focus on keeping Steve Rogers in the present, and they hired Joe and Anthony Russo to direct Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
19. Hugo Weaving signed a three-picture deal with Marvel, but he only played Johann Schmidt/Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger.
He was asked to reprise the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, but they wanted to pay him less than his Captain America salary for both movies combined.
He told Time Out, " I actually found negotiating with them through my agent impossible. And I didn’t really wanna do it that much."
So Red Skull returned through a mixture of stand-ins and CGI. Ross Marquand provided his voice.
20. David Hayter reportedly made a deal to write and direct Lionsgate's Black Widow movie in 2004.
He spent the next two years working on the script, becoming so invested that he even named his newborn daughter Natasha.
However, after a few female-led action movies including Aeon Flux and Ultraviolet failed at the box office, Lionsgate pulled out. Hayter and Marvel shopped it around, but he "never felt comfortable that [they] had found a place that was willing to take the movie, and the character, seriously."
In 2010, Natasha Romanoff made her onscreen debut in Iron Man 2, and her solo film, Black Widow, finally came out in 2021. Hayter wasn't involved with either project.
21. And finally, Emily Blunt was originally cast to play Natasha Romanoff in Iron Man 2.
However, she had to drop out because she was already contractually obligated to do another movie she didn't actually want to do — Gulliver's Travels.
So, the role went to Scarlett Johansson instead.
