It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since the first Thor movie first came out. Back then, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was just starting to shape up, with only Iron-Man, Iron-Man 2, and The Incredible Hulk under the studio's belt. Since it was only the third Marvel movie to introduce a new superhero from the comic books via a solo title, the expectations for it were naturally high. In order for it to really connect with its fans, everything needed to be right, from the storyline, the visual effects, and most importantly, the casting.

Thus, many people assumed that Marvel would hire veteran actors to play the lead roles of Thor and Loki, but they ended up going in the opposite direction. While it's hard to think of anyone else playing the two gods other than Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston nowadays, back then, they were both considered controversial casting picks for the Kenneth Branagh project.

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A recent Instagram post from Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, gives the perfect example of just how much "backlash" the casting decision received. An old Vulture article from 2009 titled "Marvel Rolls Dice, Casts No-names for Thor", a snippet of which was shared in the post, had mixed sentiments towards Hemsworth and Hiddleston in the early days of the MCU. Mark Graham, the article's author, went on to call the two actors "virtual unknowns" who would be "handed the keys to the Marvel franchise." Apparently, he believed such responsibility should have gone to Hollywood heavyweights like Shia LaBeouf and Josh Hartnett instead.

Graham also added a little dig at the end of his introduction, saying that he hoped the film's producers would "follow the J.J. Abrams route" and "put the money they saved in casting to special effects." Little did he know that the two "no-names" he criticized so deeply would end up becoming two of the most famous and successful actors in the MCU, both with multimillion-dollar contracts and several ongoing projects with the studio.

Currently, Hiddleston has his highly-anticipated Loki series dropping on Disney+ this June 9, while Hemsworth is busy filming Thor: Love and Thunder, which will be the fourth installment in the Thor film series. Needless to say, Graham was dead wrong about their career trajectories - sometimes, it's the "no-names" you need to place your bets on, especially in this digital age of instant streaming when anyone can become a global sensation overnight.

The Thor film collection is now streaming on Disney+.

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Source: Chris Hemsworth|Instagram