After a decade of being dismissed as arguably the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s weakest installment, Thor: The Dark World found itself trending as some fans claimed that it wasn’t as bad as its dismal reputation would suggest. Then again, it was trending again the very next day as the other side of the fence decided that it definitely still sucked.
So forgettable was the God of Thunder’s second adventure, you’d be completely forgiven for forgetting that Zachary Levi was even in it. The future Shazam! star was cast as Fandral for Kenneth Branagh’s first installment, but scheduling conflicts with Chuck meant he couldn’t commit, so Josh Dallas was hired instead.
In a huge coincidence, Chuck had ended by the time The Dark World was gearing up to shoot and Dallas was tied to Once Upon a Time, so Levi circled back around to the MCU. In a new interview, the actor revealed that he was promised some extra screen time that he never ended up getting.
“To be honest, I had seen the first one, and I didn’t really feel like The Warriors Three were used all that well, so I was like, ‘Hey, are you going to actually use these folks’. And they said, ‘Oh no, we’re gonna use The Warriors Three a lot in Thor: The Dark World . A lot. Yeah, you’re going to be busy’. And I was like, ‘Okay’, so I signed up for it.
I got to be in the Marvel Universe and play a really kinda fun, interesting, different kinda character, and that ultimately Kenneth Branagh believed in me enough to cast me in the first one, that’s very cool. I also didn’t have that much to do, you know? And really, nothing to do in the third one. I knew I was going to die in the third one. I didn’t know I was going to die, having said nothing. Even the few words they gave me were going to be taken away.”
No offense to Levi, Dallas, Ray Stevenson or Tadanobu Asano, but the Warriors Three were fairly pointless in the grand scheme of things. They’re Thor‘s buddies that show up for the action scenes, drop a couple of quips and then fade into the background, but at least Shazam! and upcoming sequel Fury of the Gods allowed Levi to scratch that superhero itch.