Wilson Bethel, the man cast as Bullseye in the third season of Daredevil, had another chance at the Marvel universe in the past. It was a big one.
According to an interview with Comicbook.com, as corroborated by CinemaBlend, Bethel was, once upon a time, up for the role of Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the role eventually taken up by Chris Evans. He got pretty close to taking home the star-spangled prize, too.
“I mean that was both, probably the single most exciting time of my life and also the single most devastating when it didn’t happen. But, yeah, that was eight years ago now,” Bethel said. “They put me in the Cap suit and did everything. So, I screen tested it at Marvel with a number of other guys. They ended up releasing all the other guys... I was meeting with Joe Johnson to discuss the role and see storyboards. So, it was this insane period where during that time I kind of thought that maybe I was going to actually get the role. I actually screen tested again a second time a month later on my birthday.”
“And then, I think it was like one or two days later that they made the announcement that Chris Evans got the part,” he added.
It’s fascinating, seeing how close some actors get to becoming major players in modern cinematic history before not quite getting there. And it’s even more interesting when those same actors end up involved anyway. Bethel might not have gotten to be Cap, but he got his place in the Marvel Universe. It might be a pretty good one, actually.