When it comes to making the biggest franchises in the world stay on top, the decisions of the casting team are usually of the utmost importance. After all, they are responsible for landing the best performers for the job, even if the fans don’t like it at first. Franchises like the MCUStar Wars, and the Fast & Furious have all done an incredible job in finding the perfect people for the job.

When the Star Wars sequel trilogy was gearing up to be made, the team casting each role knew that they had to hit a home run with each pick. Early on, Michael Fassbender was in consideration for a major role, but ultimately, he could not make it happen.

Let’s head back and see which role Michael Fassbender was up for!

He Was Approached To Play Kylo Ren

Star Wars has perhaps the most vocal fan base on the planet, and they will gladly let their feelings be heard online. So, when it came down to casting the biggest roles in the sequel trilogy, the casting team knew that they had to take their time and get someone who could resonate with the audience.

Early on, Michael Fassbender was a contender to play the role of Kylo Ren. As we would come to see, Kylo Ren would go on to become a character that many people in the fandom loved. He had a unique journey and an inner struggle throughout the films, and he wound up finishing his time on the big screen as a redeemed hero who helped save the galaxy like his parents had.

By the time he was in consideration for the role, Michael Fassbender had already shown what he could do on the big screen. He had already appeared in films like 300Inglourious Basterds, and X-Men: First Class. Clearly, the casting team saw something in his abilities. Fassbender has the ability to do it all on screen, and he would have been a great choice to play Kylo Ren.

During this time, Hugo Weaving was also in consideration for the role of Kylo Ren, as well. These two performers would have brought something completely different to the table than Adam Driver did, meaning that we would have gotten a completely different version of the character.

As we will soon come to see, Michael Fassbender was not able to take the role of a lifetime.

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He Had To Pass On The Role

Now that he was in consideration for one of the biggest roles in the sequel trilogy, Michael Fassbender was in a prime position to make bank in two film franchises. However, he would never get the chance to take the role of Kylo Ren.

Actors aren’t always too willing to dive into missed chances, but Fassbender would open up about this when on the podcast Happy Sad Confused.

According to NME, He would say, “We talked about a role. We had a conversation. I’m pretty sure I was busy doing something else in the summer he was kickstarting that.”

So, while he was approached to potentially take on the role, he had other irons in the fire that got in the way of him being able to make it happen. There have been plenty of instances that see actors turn down roles due to scheduling issues, which can never feel good. The best ability is availability, and performers that have a lot on their plate can also miss out on something huge.

Even though Michael Fassbender could have been great in the role, he eventually had to pass. This meant that another performer was going to be able to slide on in and snag the job.

Related: Every Upcoming Star Wars Movie & TV Show (& What We Know)

Adam Driver Takes The Gig

While early contenders for film roles can fall by the wayside, the right person for the job will eventually emerge. For the role of Kylo Ren, Adam Driver would make the most of the opportunity and take the role to another level.

People were interested in seeing what Driver could do as the villainous Kylo Ren, and he wound up bringing in a solid amount of depth to the character. He did such a good job portraying the inner struggle that the character was dealing with, and fans loved Driver in the role.

As we got to see, each film in the trilogy wound up grossing over $1 billion at the box office, making each one a success. This is good news for Driver, who can now lay claim to being in some of the biggest films of all time.

Related: ‘Star Wars’ The Backstory About How Anakin Skywalker Got His Scar

Michael Fassbender has done well for himself over the years, but missing out on playing Kylo Ren could not have been easy.

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