Grey’s Anatomy star Kevin McKidd almost played Thor over Chris Hemsworth

Chris Hemsworth has made the role of hammer-wielding Norse god Thor his own, but the part almost went to a television doctor you might also recognise.

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Chris Hemsworth playing Thor, the God of Thunder.

As it turns out, an unlikely star was in early talks for the role — one that Grey’s Anatomy fans will recognise.

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Kevin McKidd, who plays Owen Hunt in the popular series, was considered to pick up Thor’s magical hammer before Hemsworth was cast for the role.

Kevin McKidd plays Owen Hunt, the Head of Trauma and former Chief of Surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in the series. Picture: Supplied.

Chris Hemsworth’s first film as Thor came out in 2011. Picture: Supplied.

The co-founder of Marvel Studios’ visual development department, Charlie Wen, shared the Hollywood titbit in an Instagram post showing early concept art for Thor.

In it, Kevin McKidd is the star in the superhero costume.

“Thought you might enjoy another very early Thor concept done even before pre-production started,” Wen wrote.

“I was trying out different actors to base #Thor on since @chrishemsworth didn’t have the role yet at the time. This was based on @therealkmckidd,” he said.

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It comes after an earlier image, shared on June 25, showed how Wen imagined the character long before the film was made.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Chris Evans as Captain America in a scene from the 2012 film The Avengers. Picture: Supplied.

“Here’s a throwback to the very first #thor I had done,” Wen wrote in the caption.

“It was at Marvel Studio’s infancy, directly after Iron Man 1 — I had a meeting the next morning with Kevin Feige to talk about designing a Marvel Cinematic Universe. I was so nerve-racked, I decided to paint my first Thor (which I included in the meeting;).”

He continued, “You can see how this very first Thor image still had bits left over from spending 6 years developing the fantasy look of the #godofwar games. but even then, I really thought the Celtic knotting and interweaving shapes were working well, so I was super happy to be able to work those elements into the final #thor #designs for the films,” he said of the initial style he presented.

In 2007, McKidd himself actually addressed rumours surrounding his involvement with Marvel’s Thor.

“It’s semi-true,” The Rome actor told IGN of the whispers at the time.

“I actually didn’t know anything about it until I heard the rumours and called my agent and he said, ‘Yeah, we’re talking to them.’ They want to go for someone younger for the role, a 19 or 20-year-old.”

McKidd gave off Thor vibes as Lucius Vorenus in TV program Rome. Picture: Supplied.

A year later, McKidd updated the same publication on his potential role, sharing he was in early talks to play the lead, but there was “a lot of back and forth” in regards to the project.

Thor of course went to Hemsworth in the end, who was 26 when he scored the gig, with McKidd taking on the part of Owen on Grey’s Anatomy in 2008.