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Mel Gibson Turned Down This Marvel Movie Role

The role of Odin in the Thor movies eventually went to Anthony Hopkins.

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Actor/director Mel Gibson was asked to play Thor's father, Odin, in a Marvel movie, but he declined. Gibson shared the piece of news in an interview with The Guardian, saying the offer was made to him a "long time ago."

According to The Guardian, Marvel offered Gibson the part of Odin for the Thor movies. The role eventually went to another Oscar-winner, Anthony Hopkins, who played the eyepatch-wearing character in 2011's Thor and the 2013 follow-up, Thor: Dark World. Gibson did not say why he turned down the part.

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Also in the interview, Gibson shared his thoughts on the state of superhero movies today.

"Some are good. Some are kind of funny ... Guardians of the Galaxy. Or the first Iron Man," he said. "And some of them are just like retreats. I mean you can watch them do Spider-Man five times."

The Guardian also pointed out how superhero movies in the '80s were more star-driven, something Gibson seemed to agree with.

"There is a slight shift in film. But, then again, I think all films are suffering from people not being able to now open them with their name," he said. "It's a different kind of business these days."

"I think you used to get more variety of stories, films and performances," he added. "You had more of a chance of a profound film experience. But that's not gone. I think that has been relegated to the independent world--but they have to do it twice as fast for half the money."

In other news about Gibson and superhero movies, Iron Man 3 director Shane Black recently revealed that Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. apparently would like to see Gibson direct a new entry in the series. Gibson and Downey Jr. appeared together in the movies Air America and The Singing Detective. As for Black, he produced Lethal Weapon, which starred Gibson.

Gibson's next movie is this summer's action-thriller Blood Father. As for the Iron Man series, Downey Jr. has said he is up for making one more, though it remains to be seen if Gibson would direct it.

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