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Landing a role in a movie franchise as popular as Star Wars can have a huge impact on an actor’s life. After all, the “galaxy far, far away” has defined many careers. Just ask Adam Driver, who — despite being an Oscar-nominated actor — is best known for playing Kylo Ren. Now one Marvel actor has lamented about how hard they bombed their Star Wars audition.

Two stormtroopers stand in front of the 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' logo at the Star Wars 'Force 4 Fashion' event
Two stormtroopers stand in front of the ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ logo at the Star Wars ‘Force 4 Fashion’ event | Brian Ach/Getty Images for Disney Consumer Products

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ brought a new era in the saga

After nearly a decade with no new movies, Star Wars fans got some surprising news with Disney’s 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm. Suddenly, a whole new era of the saga was on the way. Original trilogy actors Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and the late Carrie Fisher were thrust back into the roles that made them famous. But the sequel trilogy also introduced a new generation of characters.

In addition to Driver, actors such as Daisy Ridley and John Boyega gained worldwide acclaim for their roles. As the Force-sensitive scavenger and the stormtrooper-turned-rebel, respectively, Ridley and Boyega landed the roles so many other actors were vying for. And as it turns out, one Marvel actor was among those who failed to get cast in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

This future Marvel star missed out on the chance for a key role

Michael B. Jordan joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Erik Killmonger in 2018’s Black Panther. But years earlier, he’d missed the chance to appear in the Star Wars saga. As he told the Just for Variety podcast (via the New York Daily News), Jordan didn’t just fail to win the role, the audition went horribly.

“That was probably my worst audition to date. I couldn’t wrap my brain around some of the sides [or script excerpts]. Because when you’re reading for these high-level projects, there’s never really any specificity in the sides. Everything’s super vague; everything is secret. … Reading through, I just couldn’t connect it. I definitely bombed that one, for sure. I’m pretty sure I ran out of there, like, ‘See you guys. I’m outta here.'”

Jordan stops short of revealing which Star Wars character he might have played. Considering his status even then, the actor was likely up for a major role. probably Finn. Boyega, of course, won that role, much to the delight of fans of his his previous movie, Attack the Block. But Jordan’s career worked out in the end. In fact, he still joined a long-running franchise in 2015.

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Michael B. Jordan landed his own movie franchise the very same year

Strangely, 2015 brought two hit movies that were the seventh entry of a long-running, fan-favorite series that began in the 1970s. Jordan missed out on continuing the Star Wars legacy. But he did build on the Rocky legacy as the lead in Creed, which hit theaters less than a month before The Force Awakens.

Jordan reprised his lead role as Adonis Creed in 2018’s Creed II. Much like co-star Sylvester Stallone, he’s stepping behind the camera next. Jordan will make his directorial debut with Creed III, due for release in 2022. Meanwhile, it’s unclear whether he will appear in another 2022 sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

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