Daredevil's Wilson Bethel Was Almost Cast As MCU's Captain America

Daredevil season 3 actor Wilson Bethel recalls how he was almost cast as MCU's Captain America before it was announced that Chris Evans got the part. Debuting as Benjamin "Dex" Poindexter aka. Bullseye in the upcoming outing of the Marvel/Netflix series, Bethel, apparently, almost joined the MCU way earlier as he was one of the last actors in contention to play Steve Rogers in the interconnected film series.

One of the founding heroes of the MCU, Captain America has played a pivotal part in the overall narrative of the franchise, having appeared in six films (excluding post-credit scenes) with another one - possibly his last - on the way in Avengers 4. Over the course of his existence in the MCU, Evans made the character his own and similar to Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man and Chris Hemsworth as Thor, it's difficult to imagine any other actor playing the part. However, if things turned out differently, Bethel might have been the one breathing life into the Star Spangled Avenger on the big screen.

Speaking with ComicBook in light of the release of Daredevil season 3, Bethel recalled that time when he almost nabbed MCU's Captain America role a decade ago. The actor described the experience as "the single most exciting time of my life and also the single most devastating when it didn't happen."

"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. 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 story boards. 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."

Things however made a surprising turn for Bethel when just a few days after his last screen test, it was announced that Evans got cast for the part. The actor admitted to being pretty disappointed by it, with the rejection negatively affecting his overall outlook on his career for a while, but he added that he believes that "things happen as they're supposed to."

"And then, I think it was like one or two days later that they made the announcement that Chris Evans got the part. So, to be perfectly honest, that was one of the hardest moments in my professional career. And it spun me out for a while to be honest with you. But I'm also a firm believer that things happen as they're supposed to, and obviously, Chris did an incredible job in that role. And my life, while it hasn't brought me to lead the Avengers, has been really rich and rewarding in other ways. So, I can't spend too much time lamenting it. And honestly, just the fact that things have kind of come full circle in a way, and I still get to be a dude in a suit, is pretty exciting."

As fans known, Evans was Marvel Studios' top pick for the role, but the actor turned down the gig a couple of times due to the pressure of having to sign a multi-film contract, not to mention his not-so-ideal first foray into the comic book film genre with 2005's Fantastic Four where he played Johnny Storm aka. Human Torch. It took another attempt by the studio and a conversation with Downey Jr., who by then had gained acclaim as Tony Stark, to finally convince Evans to board the MCU.

While Bethel wasn't able to wield Cap's iconic shield on the big screen, he has a shot at bringing a Marvel character to life like Evans did with Steve Rogers when he officially debuts as Bullseye in Daredevil season 3.