Jeff Goldblum was almost in “Captain America,” but sadly not as Steve Rogers
Is there anything Jeff Goldblum can’t do? Seriously, the man has tried to talk sense into a dino-crazed tycoon, saved the world from aliens with Will Smith, and now we know the jovial Thor: Ragnarok star was this close to appearing in another Marvel film: The first Captain America.
It’s probably a good thing Goldie (we can call him that, right?) passed on the part. It was small cameo-y role, surely beneath his epic talent and quirky charm. According to Marvel president Kevin Feige, Goldblum was in talks for, or maybe even offered, the part of the senator on the USO tour in the movie. But as Feige told Uproxx, it wasn’t the right fit:
"He either wasn’t available or wasn’t interested or whatever. And thank goodness, because that would have just been a small thing and instead we got to wait for the Grandmaster, which is about as amazing as a Jeff Goldblum ‘Goldblum-iness’ could be."
Grandmaster, Goldblum’s psychedelic-looking character in Thor, is the ruler of planet Sakaar and gets his strange kicks watching great warriors duke it out Gladiator-style (i.e. to the death). It sounds like something of a departure for the smart, sensitive Dr. Ian Malcolm we know and love, but let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, shall we? One of the battles Grandmaster reportedly oversees is Thor versus Hulk. With Goldblum, Chris Hemsworth, and Mark Ruffalo, respectively, playing those parts, we’re honestly not even sure who we’ll be rooting for in the movie.
We’re relieved Jeff saved his “Goldblum-iness” for Thor, too. Seeing him play a senator in Captain America could have been fun — he can clearly play any part, as one devoted Goldblum fan recently proved with this legendary Photoshop job — but he pretty much already checked off the American patriot acting box in Independence Day. We’re still waiting on Goldblum to play Stanley Tucci’s hubby in the as-yet-nonexistent movie the Internet starting shipping hard a few months back.
Essentially, Thor: Ragnarok, which hits theaters everywhere next month, promises to be a straight-up party of fabulous actors and actresses. Other than Goldblum, Hemsworth, and Ruffalo, we’ve got Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban (Star Trek), and Tessa Thompson (Westworld) to look forward to (or maybe you already caught a glimpse of them when Mark Ruffalo accidentally butt-dialed his followers and livestreamed part of the movie’s premiere Tuesday night).
Even if the Captain America cameo wasn’t meant to be, we can’t wait to see Goldblum rock his bro-liner in Thor. After all, Goldblum, uh, finds a way.
