The last few years have been quite good to Alan Ritchson on a professional level. In addition to leading the popular Reacher series that Amazon Prime Video subscribers can stream, he also nabbed a key role in 2023’s Fast X, and it’s also guaranteed we’ll see more of Agent Aimes given how the last Fast & Furious movie ended. But like most actors, there was a time when Ritchson was looking for his big break, and he’s now shared a big opportunity that slipped through his fingers way back when: getting to play Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Before Chris Hemsworth was selected to play the Asgardian God of Thunder in the MCU’s Marvel movies in order, Ritchson was among the other actors in contention for the role, with the actor already having some superhero media experience under his belt from playing Aquaman in Smallville. However, as he recalled to Men’s Health, he didn’t give the proper amount of attention preparing for the audition, saying:
I didn’t take it seriously. I was like, ‘They’ll throw me the part if I look like the guy; nobody really cares about acting.’
Alan Ritchson learned from the Thor casting team after the audition that the reason he’d been passed over was because he hadn’t shown he had “the craft.” He was so upset by losing out on this life-changing opportunity that he practiced those same audition scenes with an acting coach for three weeks afterwards. Then he requested a spot in an acting class taught by Deborah Aquila (who did casting on The Shawshank Redemption and is now executive vice president of casting at Paramount Television Studios and CBS Studios) to up his acting game. He made it in just barely, but that was enough to kick his career to the next level.
While things didn’t work out for Ritchson on the Thor front, he wasn’t done with the superhero genre by a long shot. He played Raphael in the live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies released in 2014 and 2016, then appeared as Hank Hall, a.k.a. Hawk, in the first three seasons of the DC Comics series Titans (although he originally auditioned to play Nightwing). Now with his boosted profile, perhaps there will come an opportunity for him to play a different character in the MCU. On the other hand, perhaps more DC is in his future, as his Reacher costar Robert Patrick thinks he’d be a good choice to play Batman in James Gunn’s DC Universe.
As for Thor, that role unsurprisingly catapulted Chris Hemsworth to Hollywood stardom, and he’s made nine theatrical appearances as the character (counting his Doctor Strange cameo). It remains to be seen, however, when or even if we’ll see Hemsworth playing Thor Odinson again following the events of Love and Thunder. Granted, the actor did say he was game to reprise the role provided that he can continue experimenting with “style and genre,” but there’s been no word about Thor 5 being in development, nor if the character will be in any of the next Avengers movies.
Alan Ritchson is currently in the middle of shooting Reacher Season 3, which will be based on the books Persuader and Killing Floor. If you’re now in the mood to revisit Thor’s MCU appearances, those can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription, and feel free to envision how Ritchson might’ve done in the role.
