Fans of the Marvel Thor film series have been left shocked to learn Chris Hemsworth almost lost out on the role to a Greys Anatomy star.

For many, it is now impossible to think of the character of Thor without automatically thinking of 36-year-old Australian hunk Chris.

However, it has been revealed that film bosses had 46-year-old Scottish actor Kevin McKidd in mind when creating concepts for the film series which launched in 2011.

Marvel Studios Head of Visual Development Charlie Wen dropped the bombshell detail in a reasonably nonchalant Instagram post shared on Saturday.

The creative mastermind shared provisional artwork from the 2011 Thor film which was directed by Britihs acting legend Kenneth Branagh, 59 which featured designs based on Greys Anatomy actor Kevin.

Charlie shared a black and white drawing of Thor with his hammer raised up in the sky, along with an eye-brow raising caption.

He wrote: Thought you might enjoy another very early Thor concept done even before preproduction started.

I was trying out different actors to base #Thor on since @chrishemsworth didnt have the role yet at the time. This was based on @therealkmckidd.

The image was linked to the Instagram page of Kevin who has played Dr. Owen Hunt on popular medical drama Greys Anatomy since 2008.

Fans reacted to the titbit of information about Kevin almost playing the role.

One responded in the Instagram comments section: I remember the McKidd rumors. At the time he starred in a show called Journeyman, so I watched the pilot to see what this potential Thor was like.

Found it pretty funny when the episode ended with him smashing a concrete pad with a sledgehammer during a thunderstorm

While another wrote: Kevin would have been awesome!

Chris has discussed in the past that he had to win an audition against his won brother, 30-year-old Liam Hemsworth.

He told W Magazine: I came into the audition with Kenneth Branagh and thought I nailed it and then never heard anything back.

Months went by and then my brother, my little brother, Liam, was in Australia and sent a tape across and he got a call back, then another call back and then was down to the last kind of four or five people for it.

[My] second audition was a lot different than my first one. I came in kind of with a little, I guess, motivation and maybe frustration that my little brother had gotten further than me. It's a little family, sibling rivalry sort of kicked up in me. Then it moved pretty quick from there.

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Thor fans shocked to learn Chris Hemsworth almost lost iconic role to Grey's Anatomy star - Mirror Online