Chris Evans and Channing Tatum were both considered for the role of Jake Sully in Avatar, according to James Cameron.

The director of the 2009 sci-fi blockbuster stated that Sam Worthington was up against two enormous stars for the main role, but the relatively unknown actor won him over with the “intensity” of his voice during the film’s final speech.

“Chris Evans, and Sam, and Channing Tatum. That was my choice,” Cameron revealed during a recent appearance on the Empire Podcast. “I really liked Channing’s appeal. I liked Chris’ appeal. They were both great guys. But Sam had a quality of voice and a quality of intensity. Everybody did about the same on all the material through the script, except for the final speech where he stands up and says, ‘This is our land, ride now, go as fast as the wind can carry you.’ That whole thing. I would have followed him into battle. And I wouldn’t have followed the other guys. They’ve since gone onto fantastic careers and all that, but Sam was ready. He was ready.”

It’s interesting to imagine an alternate version of Avatar with Evans or Tatum as the protagonist. After all, both performers are younger than Worthington, thus Cameron most likely believed Worthington had more gravitas in the role. Evans and Tatum have both gone on to have incredibly successful careers, so it clearly worked out in the end. Given Evans’ initial hesitation to sign on for several Captain America films, he would have likely turned down the position if he had been cast in Avatar, which was also envisioned as a franchise starter.

Edie Falco, meanwhile, has recently joined the ‘Avatar’ franchise.

With the second of four planned Avatar sequels set to enter theaters next year, audiences will be able to witness more of Worthington’s portrayal of Jake.

“Jake eight years later, and he’s got a family now.” Worthington explained in a 2017 interview. “Essentially, it’s a movie about family. He’s been living in the world for a while now, so what’s this world he’s seeing now for the first time? The film will explore that within this family dynamic.”

In a recent interview, Sigourney Weaver, who reprises her role as Grace Augustine in the franchise, remarked, “No, it’s a continuous character. We just finished shooting two and three. We shot it in LA and James has announced publicly that there’s a lot of underwater work, so we learned how to free dive and we did many scenes underwater which was challenging and kind of cool.”

“I’m so lucky because I always grew up near the water and I’m married to someone from Hawaii and I had learned to swim.” Weaver continued. “Also, you have the best safety divers in the world. The one scary thing is sometimes you have to be weighted down to be on the bottom. Luckily, I would have a safety diver on each arm to get me back to the surface. I was grateful for that, because otherwise I would still be there.”

Meanwhile, Chris’ next appearance will be in Avengers: Endgame. The film is set to hit theaters on April 26, 2019, and is one of the year’s most anticipated blockbusters.