Over the years, the the MCU's timeline progressed.

Marvel Studios tend to switch actors for different reasons. There have been multiple recasts involving different types of characters throughout the years - from prominent heroes to ing players. Some of them were publicized, while others were quietly done behind-the-scenes. With the MCU five phases deep, it is only reasonable that some roles would require changes. These are all the MCU characters who were recast in the franchise.

12 James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine

The first ever recast in the MCU took place very early on. Terrence Howard was part of Iron Man's cast, ing Downey and Gwyneth Paltrow (Pepper Potts) as Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes. In fact, he was the first actor to board the project and had the largest salary among the film's cast. But while his co-stars continued to be an integral part of the MCU a decade after the Jon Favreau-directed film was released, Howard was quietly replaced by Don Cheadle in Iron Man 2.

It was evident in Iron Man that there's a clear intention of bringing back Howard for Iron Man 2, with a tease of him officially donning his own metal armor and becoming War Machine. Sadly, this was never realized as he was replaced by Cheadle, who got the opportunity to wear the suit - something that he had the privilege of doing almost a decade after he first ed the MCU.

It's unclear what prompted the recast, but Howard came out understandably frustrated. Rumor had it that it had something to do with a pay dispute, as Downey's salary got significantly larger in Iron Man 2, but there was never an official statement regarding the matter.

11 Bruce Banner/The Hulk

Edward Norton was the second headlining actor to be cast in the franchise, following Downey in Iron Man. He played Bruce Banner in Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk. While the film wasn't as well received as its MCU predecessor, it was an improvement from 2003's Hulk. Norton's performance was also well-received, leaving no indication that Marvel Studios was looking to replace him. However, things were apparently chaotic behind-the-scenes, resulting in Mark Ruffalo taking over the gig in Joss Whedon's The Avengers.

Initially, Norton was expected to reprise the role as the Hulk in the 2012 ensemble flick, but things changed right before filming when Marvel Studios released a statement about recasting the part. In the press release, they explained that they're looking for "an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast ." Over the years, fans learned about the creative conflict between Norton and Marvel behind-the-scenes.

10 Fandral

Things are a bit more complicated with the actors who played Fandral - one of the of the trio of elite Asgardians, the Warriors Three. Despite Zachary Levi originally being hired to portray the character in Kenneth Branagh's Thor, Josh Dallas ultimately landed the gig. Unfortunately, Levi had to pull out after production posed some scheduling conflicts with his TV series, Chuck.

Things made an interesting turn when it was about time to start principal photography for Thor: The Dark World, as Dallas was the one unable to continue to reprise his role because of his work with ABC's Once Upon A Time. This paved the way for Levi to reclaim his original role. After Levi's stint in The Dark World, his small part was cut in Thor: Ragnarok. In the end, it didn't even matter, since the Warriors Three met their end at the hands of Hela (Cate Blanchett) in Taika Waititi's film.

9 Howard Stark

Technically, there were three actors who played Howard Stark in the MCU. Gerard Sanders debuted the character in Iron Man, but without any actual lines, so there wasn't that much of a commotion when John Slattery was brought in to play the character in Iron Man 2, Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Endgame.

It's unknown why Marvel Studios had to switch actors at that point in time. The addition of Dominic Cooper to the pool of actors playing Tony Stark's dad, on the other hand, was justified. The MCU needed a much younger version of the character as he appeared in period projects such as Captain America: The First Avenger and Hayley Atwell's Marvel's Agent Carter on ABC.

8 Red Skull

Hugo Weaving boarded the MCU through Captain America: The First Avenger as Johann Schmidt and became Steve Rogers' first true nemesis. The character eventually transformed into the Red Skull after using an imperfect replica of the Super Soldier Serum and is known as the first one in the current MCU canon to pursue an Infinity Stone via the Tesseract/Space Stone. Fans hadn't seen the Red Skull since, until his re-emergence in last year's Avengers: Infinity War, where we learned that he was forced to become Vormir's gatekeeper where the Soul Stone was.

Marvel Studios wasn't able to cajole Weaving to reprise the role in both Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, so they tapped the services of Ross Marquand, who is a brilliant impersonator, to play the part. The switch wasn't as blatant compared to the other ones in the list, considering that the character is mostly in prosthetics, and perhaps because Marquand did a great job replicating what his predecessor did in The First Avenger.

7 Thanos

Josh Brolin may have owned Thanos, but he wasn't the only character to play the role. Actor and stuntman Damion Poitier was actually the first one to portray the purple villain in the end-credits scene for The Avengers. Brolin didn't the MCU until 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, where he had a small part as the villain - a year after he was officially announced to be playing the big bad for Marvel Studios' Infinity Saga. He then reprised the role three more times in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

Marvel Studios had yet to cast Thanos at the time of The Avengers' release, but they had already decided to tease his arrival.

There's no drama behind the actor switch between Poltier and Brolin. In fact, Poltier even appeared in Captain America: Civil War. It was simply because Marvel Studios had yet to cast Thanos at the time of The Avengers' release, but they had already decided to tease his arrival.

Through the years, the character's design also changed, although it always remained somehow faithful to his comic book appearance. Like Red Skull, however, it wasn't as blatant unless one looks really closely, because both actors' facial features were significantly changed via prosthetics or CGI based on Thanos' looks in print.

6 Cassie Lang

Cassie Lang had already been recast once for Avengers: Endgame, thanks to the five-year jump, which saw Abby Ryder Fortson replaced by Emma Fuhrmann. But then for Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania, Fuhrmann herself was replaced by Kathryn Newton. Newton's rising star on the back of roles in Freaky, Big Little Lies, The Society, and Blockers may be behind the move, particularly as she already had blockbuster experience on Detective Pikachu.

5 Thaddeus Ross

William Hurt first appeared as Thaddues Ross in The Incredible Hulk. He didn't return to the MCU until Captain America: Civil War as one of the driving forces in getting the Sokovia Accords approved. Following the ing of William Hurt, Harrison Ford steps into the role of Thaddeus Ross in Captain: America: Brave New World. Ross is President of the United States in the film, wanting to make Captain America an official military position once again. During the events of the film, he will turn into Red Hulk, coming full circle from his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk.

4 Billy Maximoff

Billy Maximoff (Wiccan) is the most recent recasting in the MCU, as Joe Locke took over as the character for Agatha All Along. Julian Hillard originally played Billy in WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness at a younger age. It was initially unclear exactly why Wiccan was recast in the series, given Hillard's age matched Billy's in the show's timeline.

But Agatha All Along revealed exactly why Joe Locke is now playing Billy Maximoff. At the end of WandaVision, Billy was essentially uncreated by his mother, along with his twin brother Tommy. But unbeknownst to Wanda, Billy's soul persisted and found its way into the body of the recently deceased William Kaplan (Locke), who died in a car crash just outside the town limits of Westview. That explains exactly why Billy looks so different in the MCU in Phase 5.

3 Reed Richards

This one is a little different as Reed Richards was portrayed by John Krasinski in the MCU, but in a different universe than the Sacred Timeline. He was featured in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as part of the Illuminati on Earth-838. Now that Fantastic Four: The First Steps is on its way in July 2025, Reed Richards will be portrayed by Pedro Pascal.

The film is a period piece, which presumably means it will also take place apart from the separate timeline. Pascal has been busy over the last few years with his roles in The Mandalorian and The Last of Us.