Fandral the Dashing

The Warriors Three are now down one man. Entertainment Weekly broke the news that Josh Dallas, who played Fandral in the first ‘Thor’ movie, will not be returning for the Alan Taylor-helmed sequel due to his obligations to ABC’s ‘Once Upon A Time’, which earned a second season starting this fall. While we’d love to see everyone return to the roles that they brought to life in the Marvel Universe, Kevin Fiege did say that they would James Bond the situation and replace the actor/actress and move on, as they did with Rhodey in ‘Iron Man 2’.

On having to drop out of the project, Dallas had this to say to EW:

“I’ll be missing out on wearing all that hair! The timing wasn’t right. I’m bummed about it because I had such a great experience and great time making the first film and was really excited about coming back. Marvel and Disney tried to make it work. But because of my commitment to ‘Once Upon a Time’, I was not going to be able to do both. So I’ll have to hand the reins over to someone else. I love Marvel. I wish them all the best. I will certainly be first in line to see it. On the other hand, I’m going back to the best job on TV. I love it and can’t wait to delve in more.”

However, Marvel Studios is currently in talks with ‘Chuck’ star Zachary Levi to take up the mantle of Fandral the Dashing for ‘Thor 2’. The Hollywood Reporter interestingly notes that Levi was originally lined up to play Fandral in ‘Thor’, but due to ‘Chuck’ receiving a last-minute reprieve from cancellation, he had to hand the role over to Dallas. Now the shoe is on the other foot and Levi, who has dabbled in dashing before when he played Flynn Rider in Disney’s ‘Tangled’, will now have his chance to shine alongside Ray Stevenson and Tadanobu Asano as the beloved Warriors Three.

Elsewhere in the realm of Asgard, Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, recently shared his thoughts about his ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ co-star Charlize Theron stepping into the shoes of the evil Enchantress, a long-time foe of the God of Thunder who has been rumored to be making an appearance in the next installment of the Thunderer’s franchise. Hemsworth said to MTV Splash Page (via Comic Book Movie):

“I don’t know much at all but it sounds interesting. I’m not playing the usual, sidestepping that we normally have to do, I haven’t read a script. They have a bunch of different ideas, but that sounds interesting.” After being told that his Snow White and the Huntsman co-star Charlize Theron is a fan favourite for the role, he said: “Oh right. Well she certainly plays a pretty intimidating villain, I think she’d be awesome but I think she’s tied up in 20 other films. I think she’s going on to ‘Mad Max’ next. [But] you never know. Fingers crossed!”

the Enchantress

I may not have liked ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’, but I will say that the most interesting part of the movie was Theron’s character. She played a great villain, despite the fact that the filmmakers didn’t expand on her character enough. Now that the Academy Award winner has a bit more experience as a vengeful, magic-wielding spell caster, I think she’d be a shoe-in for The Enchantress. Make it happen, Alan Taylor!

What are your thoughts on this casting shake up? Are you ready to welcome Zachary Levi to Asgard or will you be mourning the loss of Josh Dallas? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comment section!