Thor: The Dark World's Best Marvel Cameo Happened Because Of Perfect Timing

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Some might consider it one of the worst Marvel movies to date, but "Thor: The Dark World" is not without its moments, particularly one added at the last minute that contributed to the growing cohesion in the franchise that was being built like a Russian nesting doll. One scene in the hammer-wielding hero's second movie saw him being taunted by Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who, in an attempt to push his adopted brother's buttons, briefly transformed into Captain America (played by Chris Evans), fully star-spangled (albeit in one of Cap's worst costumes), before switching back. According to "The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe," the small cameo was added purely by chance, given that "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" was going through reshoots and the MCU's super soldier had some time to spare to swing by Midgard and drop in.

"We were doing additional photography on 'The Dark World' at Manhattan Beach at the same time 'Winter Soldier' was filming," explained Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, in the book. "And Evans was nice enough at the end of one of his days to take off his 'Winter Soldier' outfit, put back on his 'Avengers' Cap outfit, and do the Loki thing, which was very cool of him." It was this light, little link that would become a more prominent tool applied to future solo superhero films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and also, courtesy of "The Dark World" reshoots, change the trajectory that Thor would follow for the foreseeable future, for better or worse.

The title might've set fans up to prepare for a more serious sequel, but through additional filming, filmmaker Alan Taylor began to see that he could brighten things up a bit in "Thor: The Dark World" with an action star who was hiding in plain sight.

"In my case, we had a movie where Thor broke up with his girlfriend and his brother died," Taylor recalled. "By the time we released it, they didn't break up, and the brother was alive. A lot of stuff happened on the way, like rediscovering the lightness of [Thor] and the fact that Chris is a natural, brilliant comedian, too."

However, while Taylor was pleased with the outcome, Hemsworth wasn't satisfied with the result, deeming his appearance in "The Dark World" his most disappointing. That kind of self-criticism would return years later with "Thor: Love and Thunder," which was met with just as much negative reception and had Hemsworth vouch for a radical shift for Thor 5, if and when it ever happens. Should the (second) strongest Avenger ever return to the MCU alone, perhaps there's a sweet spot close to the standard of "The Dark World" that could return Thor to standalone hero status, and he might not even need a Cap cameo to do it, either.