Stealing his thunder! Meet the British actor who was Marvel's first choice to play Thor before they cast an unknown Chris Hemsworth

For the past nine years, muscle-bound Australian actor Chris Hemsworth has played Marvel superhero Thor.

But it turns out the 36-year-old was not actually the studio's first choice to portray the hammer-wielding Norse god.

The iconic part that skyrocketed Chris' career in Hollywood almost went to a British actor 10 years his senior. Since his debut as Thor in 2011, Chris has starred in seven Marvel films. His latest, Thor: Love and Thunder, is scheduled for release in 2022.

Charlie Wen, the co-founder of Marvel Studios' visual development department, revealed the little-known fact about the 'original' Thor over the weekend. 

He said that Grey's Anatomy star Kevin McKidd, 46, had been considered for the role before anyone mentioned Chris as a candidate.

He shared early Thor concept artwork, writing in the caption: 'This was done even before pre-production started. I was trying out different actors to base Thor on since [Chris] didn’t have the role yet at the time. This was based on Kevin McKidd.' 

But he didn't get the role in the end because Marvel wanted 'to go for someone younger, a 19 or 20-year-old'. .