Captain Marvel: The Iconic Jim Carrey Character That Almost Appeared In The MCU

2019's "Captain Marvel" has quite the star-studded cast, with Brie Larson as the titular superhero, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Jude Law as Yon-Rogg, and more. However, some diehard Marvel fans may be surprised to learn that the movie was also once slated to feature an appearance from one of legendary actor Jim Carrey's most iconic characters — in sign form, that is.

In the final cut of the movie, there's a scene relatively early on in which Captain Marvel crashes onto Earth in 1995, right through the ceiling of a nostalgic-looking Blockbuster Video store. Caught in a wholly unfamiliar setting, she gets spooked by an Arnold Schwarzanegger standee promoting "True Lies" and blasts it to bits. It's one of the film's many tongue-in-cheek pop culture references, but the scene was originally written to play out a bit differently.

In an interview with Empire, "Captain Marvel" co-director Anna Boden revealed that the hero was originally written to fire away at a cutout of Jim Carrey's green-hued protagonist from 1994's "The Mask." "We really wanted it to be The Mask, because of the green head," the director explained. "The idea is that she thinks it's a Skrull. We initially tried to get that but they wouldn't clear it."

As it stands, "Captain Marvel" almost showcasing Jim Carrey's green visage from "The Mask" is the closest that the actor has come to an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He hasn't the massive list of Hollywood A-listers who have joined the franchise, though there have been rumblings on that front. Back in 2021, there was a widespread rumor that alleged Carrey would be cast as the MCU iteration of the villain MODOK. Of course, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" ended up revealing Corey Stoll to be the actor behind the character.

While Carrey could join the MCU in the future, the chances are unfortunately slimmer than ever. In an appearance on "Access Hollywood" in 2022, the longtime movie star said that he would be mostly retiring from acting after his role as Dr. Robotnik in "Sonic the Hedgehog 2." While he didn't rule out the possibility of returning for the odd film or two, he noted that it would have to be something special. "If the angels bring some sort of script that's written in gold ink that says to me that it's going to be really important for people to see, I might continue down the road, but I'm taking a break," he said.

Still, if Carrey does end up returning to Hollywood, he's certainly no stranger to superhero films. Not only did he appear in "Kick-Ass 2," but "The Mask" itself is also an adaptation of the Dark Horse Comics franchise of the same name. Perhaps Carrey and the MCU still have a shot.