Marvel is bringing the Avengers back to Indian theatres twice this year, with Avengers Endgame: Encore landing on September 25 and Avengers: Doomsday arriving December 18, both releasing across English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Which makes this a good moment to revisit how shaky the foundations of this franchise actually were, because almost none of the actors who built it walked in as the obvious choice.

Start with Thor, since it's the strangest one. Chris Hemsworth didn't get the part on his first try. He auditioned, didn't clear the cut, and watched his younger brother Liam advance further in the process instead. "I think I didn't do too well in my first audition, and my brother was able to get in there," Hemsworth said in a 2011 interview. It was only after other finalists dropped out that Marvel and director Kenneth Branagh circled back to him. Chris sent in a second tape, his mother reading the opposite lines, then went through stunt and fight tests with Mjolnir before landing the role.

Tom Hiddleston, meanwhile, was in the room for that exact part. He bulked up, wore a blonde wig, and screen-tested for Thor in 2009, only for it to go to Hemsworth. Branagh liked what he saw enough to hand him Loki instead. Hiddleston has said Kevin Feige floated the idea that Loki would eventually anchor The Avengers even back then, though he was too deep into building Thor's brother to think about it at the time. When Joss Whedon came calling for the first Avengers film, he reportedly told Hiddleston he didn't need a second villain in the mix. He could carry it alone.

The reluctant ones

Chris Evans said no to Captain America more than once, wary of a contract that could tie him down for close to a decade of filmmaking. He eventually changed his mind, telling an interviewer in 2011 that he took the role precisely because it scared him, and that he'd rather regret doing something than not doing it out of fear. Marvel trimmed his commitment down to six films, and Robert Downey Jr. Reportedly leaned on him to sign.

Mark Ruffalo needed convincing too. Stepping into a role Edward Norton had already played in The Incredible Hulk left him nervous about what he could bring to it. He's said Downey called him directly and simply told him they'd figure it out together. That call, by Ruffalo's own account, is what got him to say yes.

Downey's own path into the MCU wasn't smooth either. Marvel wasn't sold on him for Iron Man at first, and he's described pushing hard for the part in a way he called out of character for him, describing a hunch that he had nothing to lose. He tested for the role and got it, and that single casting call arguably built the entire universe that follows.

Scarlett Johansson's route to Natasha Romanoff came with its own detour. Emily Blunt had the part first and dropped out over scheduling conflicts with Gulliver's Travels. Johansson pushed for a meeting with Feige and reportedly dyed her hair red before she got the call.

Whether Encore and Doomsday can recapture any of that original chemistry on Indian screens this winter is the real question now.