While fans might remember hearing that Daniel Craig was considered to play the character and Reed Richards in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) until the MCU decided to take another route. Sources state that the character was originally working with the Illuminati which would’ve been odd since the Illuminati was supposed to be a secret society of Earth’s smartest heroes trying to protect their world from unseen threats.
Surprisingly enough, Balder the Brave was already removed from three other MCU projects. As Thor’s brother, the character was considered to show up in all of Chris Hemsworth’s Thor movies but never got the chance to make his debut.
Graham Churchyard, one of the costume designers for Doctor Strange 2shared his experience working on the costume for Balder the Brave before the character’s role was cut from the movie:
“We got very far designing Balder the Brave and then we were waiting, and waiting, and waiting on casting. I took it to a prototype stage, we were kind of in that design thing, getting fabrics together and ideas and waiting for an actor.”
Earlier reports stated that Balder the Brave was originally the seventh member of the Illuminati so this makes sense why his costume went as far as it did in production. Other reports claim that Craig would’ve played the part, but was unable to due to COVID concerns which could be why the role was ultimately cut from the film.
Churchyard goes on to explain that he has some doubts about Thor’s brother making his debut anytime soon after seeing how long the character has been waiting to show up in the MCU:
“Poor Balder the Brave, he almost made Thor 1, and Thor 2, and Thor 3, if I can simplify that. Then, it’s just like, ‘Yay! He’s gonna get an appearance!’ Poor guy. I’ve seen designs Marvel’s archive book of Balder’s helmet going back to Kenneth Branagh’s Thor. So, he’s been a long time waiting and I don’t think he’s gonna make an appearance any time soon.”
While it would’ve been cool to see Balder the Brave enter the MCU, it would’ve felt odd seeing the character as part of the Illuminati and not meet his brother, Thor. Knowing that Wanda would’ve murdered the super hero, it’s probably great to know that Balder the Brave could show up in another movie later on instead of having a quick cameo before dying by Wanda’s magic.
Doctor Strange 2 is directed bySam Raimi and starsBenedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange in the main timeline, but he will also play other variants in the movie such as Sinister Strange, Defender Strange, and Strange Supreme.