Chris Hemsworth is both one of Hollywood’s favorite “Chris” stars and a beloved member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he plays the God of Thunder.

In fact, the 40-year-old actor was so well cast as Thor that he was seemingly born into the role. However, that isn’t the case. He actually faced some stiff competition from a field of very talented actors.

He began playing the Norse god in 2011′s Thor and has suited up multiple times since then. The last time he yielded his iconic hammer was in 2022′s Thor: Love and Thunder, which saw him reunite with original franchise star Natalie Portman.

While he quite simply is Thor now, he actually competed with 10 other actors to land the role, including one successful actor who recently spoke out about their experience.

Interestingly, one of Chris‘ competitors wound up making his own MCU debut alongside Chris in Thor. Others have recalled suiting up for auditions. Chris himself admitted that he thought he knew was going to get the part at one time, and it was not himself but the star of another very successful franchise.

Scroll through the slideshow to see who else could have played Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe…