Timothy Olyphant missing out on the role of Iron Man to Robert Downey Jr. has become the stuff of legend, but the MCU isn't the only big franchise which passed him by.
Long before joining the Star Wars franchise as The Mandalorian's Cobb Vanth, Olyphant came very close to being beamed up for 2009's Star Trek reboot. While it's unclear how close he claim to officially boarding the Enterprise, he was eyed for the role of Captain Kirk!
"I went in and auditioned, not for Captain Kirk, but I remember reading with J.J. Abrams, and he’s just a lovely, lovely guy, and [it was] just a lovely audition process," he tells Happy Sad Confused (via SFFGazette.com).
"I was auditioning for Doc, [and Abrams was] like, 'I already got a guy for Doc, so I don’t need you for that. But I don't have a Kirk.'"
Karl Urban was cast as Bones, of course, but it appears the role of Captain Kirk was Olyphant's for the taking...until Chris Pine entered the scene.
"Somewhere along the line, J.J. called and said, 'I found a guy younger, who's really good,'" Olyphant added. "I have since then met Chris Pine, and I am a huge fan of him, both on and off-screen. I love that guy. He is a good dude."
It must have come as quite the blow to miss out on a role that iconic, though Pine was a great fit for the version of Kirk that Abrams' Star Trek put front and centre. The franchise has since found itself stuck in development hell, so we're sure Olyphant is glad not to be caught up in that.
It's always intriguing to think about what might have been, but the actor has made plenty of other characters his own, including Justified's Raylan Givens and the aforementioned Cobb Vanth.
We last saw the actor play Cobb Vanth in The Book of Boba Fett. While it looked like his time as the character had ended courtesy of Cad Bane, a post-credits scene confirmed the Marshall lived to fight another day, though we don't currently know when and where he'll make his Star Wars return.
Do you think Olyphant would have made a good Captain Kirk in Star Trek?