Captain Marvel: Keanu Reeves Almost Played Yon-Rogg

Screen Rant

By Cooper Hood

Published Feb 3, 2019

Keanu Reeves almost joined the cast of Captain Marvel in the role Jude Law eventually received, but had to pass due to John Wick: Chapter 3.

Keanu Reeves nearly joined the cast of Captain Marvel, but had to pass due to scheduling on John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. Marvel Studios is only a few weeks away from the release of Brie Larson's solo movie, which marks the first female0led film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even though the story is completely focused on Carol Danvers relearning about her past, there's an entire cast of characters who are going to be involved.

Marvel Studios routinely adds all-star casts to their films and Captain Marvel is no exception. Samuel L. Jackson is reprising his role as a younger, two-eyed Nick Fury, while Clark Gregg is also set to return as Phil Coulson. Ben Mendelsohn joined the MCU to play Talos, the leader of the shape-shifting alien race known as Skrulls, who'll pose as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent on Earth. There's also the entire roster of Starforce characters that Carol will be working with and their mysterious commander played by Jude Law. There has been plenty of confusion over who Law is actually playing, but the evidence has mounted as of late that he's playing Yon-Rogg, one of Captain Marvel's earliest villains in the comics.

The addition of Law got many fans excited, but it turns out he was not always going to play the part. That Hashtag Show's Charles Murphy shared a bit of info on Twitter recently that Keanu Reeves was originally very close to taking this role instead. Screen Rant's Rob Keyes can confirm this is indeed true. However, due to Reeves' schedule for John Wick: Chapter 3, he had to drop out of the role.

Even though this casting didn't happen, it does show that both Marvel Studios and Reeves have some level of mutual interest in working together. Reeves is a major action movie star thanks to his memorable roles in The Matrix, Point Break, and more recently with the John Wick franchise. He's also previously tackled a superhero movie by starring in Constantine in 2005.

Now that Reeves' MCU eligibility is still intact, there's still the chance that Marvel and Reeves could find a project to work on together in the future. There are already several Phase 4 movies in development, and Reeves would add star power to any of them. He's become a bit of a fan-favorite to be the MCU's Wolverine after expressing interest in the role, and many have wanted him to play Moon Knight once he gets introduced in the larger universe. So even though there may be some who would've liked to see Reeves be part of Captain Marvel, these roles and hundreds more all remain possible.