16 Actors Who Were Almost Superheroes

Superhero casting news is everywhere, and it changes at the drop of a hat. One day you hear that they're adapting your favorite comic book and the next day you hear that Mr. Mom is cast as Batman or Gilbert Grape is gonna be Spider-Man. Who could have ever imagined that a 6'2" Australian musical theatre actor was going to be Weapon X. It's hard to picture him not being Wolverine. Well, he almost wasn't. DOUGRAY SCOTT AS WOLVERINE It's pretty difficult to imagine anyone but Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, but before filming started on 2000's X-Men, Dougray Scott was set to wear the claws. But scheduling conflicts with Mission Impossible 2 meant director Bryan Singer went to the next name on the list: Jackman. Wolverine fans the world over remain grateful. JOHN KRASINSKI AS CAPTAIN AMERICA Chris Evans has a monopoly on comic characters, having been cast as the Human Torch, Jake Jensen in the adaptation of The Losers, and of course, Captain America. But before Evans got the job, the favorite was John "Jim from The Office," Krasinski. I haven't read my Marvel handbook in a while, but I'm pretty sure sarcastically mugging for the camera isn't one of Captain America's super powers. JAKE GYLLENHAAL AS SPIDER-MAN AND BATMAN Tobey Maguire owned the role of Spider-Man in 2002's film of the same name. But when his health put him in danger of missing the sequel, director Sam Raimi cast Jake Gyllenhaal. When Maguire was deemed healthy enough to spin webs, Gyllenhaal was sidelined. The actor also recently revealed he tried, and failed, to secure the Batman role that eventually went to Christian Bale. TOM CRUISE AS IRON MAN Robert Downey Jr. might well be one of the few actors who was born to play a particular superhero. There was no doubt that he was the right man for the Iron Man job. Amazingly, Tom Cruise was first in talks to wear the armor. He was in talks with Marvel for years, but when the time finally came to make the movie, he lost interest. MARLON WAYANS AS ROBIN Director Tim Burton was slated to make a third film in his Batman franchise. Comic actor Marlon Wayans was cast as Robin, and was set to get going after being costume tested. But when Warner Bros. replaced Burton with Joel Schumacher, the production started from zero. Wayan's contract was paid despite the fact that the new movie cast Chris O'Donnell as Robin. NIC CAGE AS SUPERMAN After he parted ways with Batman Burton was planning on making Superman Lives starring Nicolas Cage with a script by Clerks director Kevin Smith. Thankfully, it never got off the ground As bad as the last few Superman movies have been, they're head and shoulders above what this could have been. BROOKE SHIELDS AS SUPERGIRL On the subject of Superman, remember the bizarre Supergirl movie from 1984, with space wizards and stuff? Before Helen Slater, Brooke Shields was in talks to don the cape. The director wanted to go with an unknown, so Shields was out. ADRIANNE PALICKI AS WONDER WOMAN This one technically counts. Even though Adrianne Palicki actually filmed the pilot, the David E. Kelley produced series was canned before it could even air. It's too bad, since it could have been a winner. COMMON AS GREEN LANTERN For a few years, Mad Max director George Miller was working on creating a Justice League film, back when The Avengers was just a gleam in Disney's eye. Rapper/actor Common was set to take on the role of Green Lantern John Stewart, but the project was scrapped and Common never got a ring. BRADLEY COOPER AS GREEN LANTERN On the subject of Green Lantern, Warner Bros. eventually went with a solo movie for this character. Before Ryan Reynolds won the part, Bradley Cooper auditioned, and tanked it. WB's loss, considering that Cooper earned an Oscar nomination in 2012 and Green Lantern tanked hard. EMILY BLUNT AS BLACK WIDOW If you have any doubts that Emily Blunt could have pulled off Black Widow, we urge you to check out her badass role as Rita in Live Die Repeat. Blunt originally had the part of Black Widow in Iron Man 2, but had to bow out due to contractual obligations, and the role was handed over to Scarlett Johansson. The movie she was obligated to do instead? Gulliver's Travels. We feel for you Emily. JIM CAVIEZEL AS CYCLOPS Bryan Singer originally offered Caviezel the role of Cyclops, but Caviezel turned it down to star in the movie Frequency instead. Sure, he missed out on being a cast mainstay in some of the better X-Men movies, but he also avoided being in Last Stand. So we'd say that's a bullet dodged there. Also, Caviezel went on to act as everyone's favorite superhero, Jesus! LEONARDO DICAPRIO AS SPIDER-MAN In the '90s, Sony got the rights to Spider-Man and wanted Leonardo DiCaprio, fresh off the Titanic, to play your friendly neighborhood wall crawler. He ultimately turned the role down, and the project was reworked with Tobey Maguire as Spidey. WILL SMITH AS SUPERMAN Back in the long, long ago, Kevin Smith was set to direct a Superman movie. Producer Jon Peters wanted Will Smith to portray Clark Kent, but the movie never panned out. When Bryan Singer started work on Superman Returns, he offered the role to Will Smith again. Smith turned down the offer, saying "You mess up white people's heroes in hollywood, you'll never work in this town again." BILL MURRAY AND EDDIE MURPHY AS BATMAN AND ROBIN In 1983, before Tim Burton was signed on to direct Batman, Ivan Reitman was attached to direct. He wanted to cast Bill Murray as Batman and Eddie Murphy as Robin. In 1986, Tim Burton was brought on to direct and had the script rewritten, writing Robin out. Thanks for watching! Don't forget to like and subscribe if you want more.