One of the most visible supporting roles in the Thor franchise won’t be able to join the cast of the second movie due to a previous contract.
As you may recall, Joshua Dallas played Fandral, one of Thor’s ‘Warriors Three’ in the first Thor film. It wasn’t a large role, but it was a visible one which might have developed further as the franchise evolved.
Unfortunately, despite having signed a multi-picture deal with Marvel Studios, he’ll be backing out of the franchise, though on good terms.
Dallas also has a contract with the ABC fairy tale drama serial Once Upon a Time, which is garnering good ratings and a positive critical reception. His contract with Marvel was signed first, and so would ordinarily have taken precedence over his contract with ABC, but since Marvel and ABC are both owned by Disney, the entertainment company allowed the actor to choose which contract to honor when it became clear that he could not do both. He choose to stick with the hit television show, where he plays David Nolan, the protagonist’s father, who is actually a fairy tale prince under a curse, living in a small town in Maine. It was not an easy decision, however.
“I’ll be missing out on wearing all that hair,” the actor said of his role in Thor, “The timing wasn’t right. I’m bummed about it because I had such a great experience and great time making the first film and was really excited about coming back. Marvel and Disney tried to make it work. But because of my commitment to Once Upon a Time, I was not going to be able to do both. So I’ll have to hand the reins over to someone else. I love Marvel. I wish them all the best. I will certainly be first in line to see it. On the other hand, I’m going back to the best job on TV. I love it and can’t wait to delve in more.”
Currently, Marvel is in talks with Zachary Levi to replace Dallas in the role of Fandral, which makes sense since he was their first choice for the part originally, and was unable to commit at that time do to obligations of his own. The deal has not yet been finalized, however.
Production of Thor 2 and Once Upon a Time’s second season both begin this summer. Thor 2 is set to hit theaters November 8th, 2013. Once upon a Time will return to television this fall.
