Now that Thor: Ragnarok has finally arrived, given the Marvel Cinematic Universe its latest box office hit, new details are starting to come out about the development process on this superhero sequel. During a new interview, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed that earlier versions of this story almost featured a Marvel character many fans have wanted to see on the big screen for quite some time, Beta Ray Bill. While he never was featured in the flesh, it seems they had planned for a brief appearance for this character before those plans were ultimately scrapped. Here's what Kevin Feige had to say about the scrapped appearance of Beta Ray Bill in Thor: Ragnarok.

"There was a Beta Ray Bill, but it was so quick that you would have the same complaints that you have now. He was in it a little bit more and it just didn't do justice. And the feeling is, if you can't do it justice, do it later."

Kevin Feige also mentioned Beta Ray Bill in an interview from last month, when asked why the Planet Hulk story was reworked for this movie, and why other new characters like Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Skurge (Karl Urban) were brought into the mix. The good news for Beta Ray Bill fans is that Kevin Feige and Marvel seemingly have enough reverence for the character that they don't want to waste his introduction into the MCU on a mere cameo. There is in fact a Beta Ray Bill statue that is seen briefly in the film, but when we may actually get to see this character in action remains to be seen.

Beta Ray Bill was created by writer and artist Bill Simonson, who made his Marvel Comics debut in Thor #337, which debuted in November 1983. Beta Ray Bill was quite notable in the comics, becoming the first character from outside of the Marvel Norse pantheon to be able to wield Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. This launched a rivalry between Thor and Bill for control of the hammer, before Bill was given his own hammer known as Stormbreaker, as both Thor and Bill then became powerful allies. It's possible that Marvel may be saving this character for Marvel Phase 4, but that hasn't been confirmed either.

It is also possible that Beta Ray Bill could be introduced in either Infinity War or Avengers 4, but with practically every character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe showing up for those movies, it may be too crowded an environment to introduce a character like Beta Ray Bill. While some fans have been calling for this character to be introduced on the big screen ever since the first Thor movie, it may only be a matter of time until they get their wish. Still, don't expect Beta Ray Bill to pop up anytime soon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You can take a look at Kevin Feige's full interview over at Crave Online.