Roles Jensen Ackles Didn’t Book After an Audition (He Nearly Played a Few Iconic Superheroes!)

Jensen Ackles is a fan-favorite actor in Hollywood. However, even the most popular stars audition for projects that they do not book.

The 46-year-old star is best known for his portrayal of Dean Winchester on Supernatural, a hit series that kept him on TV screens for 15 years. Fans will also recognize him as Soldier Boy from The Boys and Russell Shaw on Tracker.

However, Jensen has been in the running for some other projects that got away. He’s spoken about three of them over the years. Interestingly, the majority of them were to play iconic superheroes.

The actor denied the rumor that he was in the running to play a beloved character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There are two other MCU roles that he’s been linked to, though!

Scroll through the slideshow to see all of roles that Jensen Ackles was in the running for and what he’s said about them…

Sam Winchester – Supernatural

Jensen famously played Dean Winchester in Supernatural, a hit series that ran for 15 seasons. However, it turns out that he was actually brought in to audition for what would ultimately become Jared Padalecki’s role – Sam Winchester.

During a podcast appearance in 2022, Jensen recalled heading in for his audition and reading to play the other Winchester brother.

“Then at the end I was like, ‘Guys, I really appreciate it but is there any way I could read the other guy for you?’” he said. “They both looked at each other and laughed. And they were like, ‘You don’t have to.’ Then that was it.”

Check out some other secrets from the set of Supernatural!

Clark Kent – Smallville

Jensen revealed that he came very close to playing Superman, one of the most iconic superheroes of all time in the 2001 show Smallville.

“I auditioned for the role of Clark Kent on Smallville,” he said back in 2007 It got down to Tom [Welling] and me, and they ultimately went for Tom, which was the right decision.”

He continued, recalling, “Two seasons later, they called and said, ‘We’ve been thinking about you,’ and pitched me the role of Lana’s boyfriend. I said, ‘Yeah, that sounds cool.'”

He wound up playing the character Jason Teague and appeared in 22 episodes.

Jensen Ackles confirmed that he was in the running to play one iconic Marvel hero…

Deadpool – 2016’s Deadpool

Ryan Reynolds famously played Marvel’s iconic Merc with a Mouth in 2016’s Deadpool, and he’s suited up twice more since, most recently to formally join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Deadpool & Wolverine.

However, it turns out that Jensen had been in talks for the role, and things didn’t work out.

“There was definitely a movie that I was very much in talks about,” Jensen said while attending a Supernatural event, confirming that it was Deadpool. “I wasn’t available, so the train just kind of stopped there. But, had I been available, I would’ve had to, you know, jump through the studio hoops and jump through the, you know, producer hoops and stuff.”

He continued, saying, “It was probably a good thing because my ex-girlfriend [Morena Baccarin, who played Deadpool’s love interest] was on there and so that probably would have been awkward, so it probably worked out for the best. I think that whole cast was amazing. I probably would’ve messed that up for a lot of people had I been a part of it, so probably best I didn’t. But that would’ve been cool.”

Jensen added that Deadpool is a movie that he “really, really” likes, and he’s reminded of how much fun it could have been to play the character every time he watches it.

Hawkeye – 2011’s Thor RUMORED

One final role that Jensen is rumored to have been up for is Hawkeye. Fans know that Jeremy Renner made his debut as the arrow-slinging Avenger alongside Chris Hemsworth in 2011’s Thor.

Jensen has never directly commented on the casting rumors, so it is unclear if this one is true or not. We’ll update you if we ever learn for sure.

Captain America – 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger UNTRUE

Jensen has long been rumored to be in the running to carry Captain America’s iconic shield in the MCU. Of course, the role ultimately went to Chris Evans.

In 2022, Jensen confirmed that the rumors about him auditioning weren’t true.