Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most notable actors who missed out on superhero roles.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most notable actors
00:09who either auditioned, were highly considered, or even came right down to the wire in getting
00:14cast as a superhero, but ultimately missed out on the role.
00:29Joel Edgerton played Owen Lars in the Star Wars prequel episodes 2 and 3, but he was
00:34this close to adding another famous star to his resume, if he had only nailed the audition.
00:38The star in question is Star-Lord, the role now made famous by Chris Pratt in multiple
00:43Guardians of the Galaxy films, and other MCU titles.
00:51As Edgerton put it, he failed the audition because he didn't quite sort of understand
00:54the tone of it, a tone Pratt obviously nailed.
00:57It's worthy to note that Glenn Howerton, of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fame,
01:01also captured this tone perfectly.
01:03In fact, director James Gunn revealed that if Pratt had declined the role, Howerton was
01:07his second choice.
01:21Even die-hard superhero fans might not know, or remember, that there was a Supergirl movie
01:25released in 1984.
01:27Following the third Superman film, this spin-off was a pretty big deal at the time.
01:31The movie attracted some big Hollywood names to try out for the lead role, including Brooke
01:35Shields and Demi Moore.
01:36However, the producers wanted an unknown actress, so they chose Helen Slater instead.
01:47They did cast Moore in the role of Lois Lane's sister Lucy, but she later dropped out of
01:51the film to make Blame It On Rio instead.
01:53It turned out to be a lose-lose situation for Moore, as both movies bombed and received
01:57a score of less than 10% on Rotten Tomatoes.
02:08Jason Momoa became a superhero with his starring role as Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe,
02:12but he could have entered the comic book movie scene a few years earlier had he thrown his
02:17hat in the ring for the role of Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy.
02:26However, for Momoa, the timing just wasn't right.
02:30As he told Zap2it back in 2014, quote,
02:37Basically he wanted to show off another side of himself, so instead of playing Drax, he
02:40went off to co-write, direct and star in the 2014 film, Road to Paloma.
02:51There are a lot of rumours out there about Margot Robbie and the role of Sue Storm in
02:55the Fantastic Four.
02:56Going back to the 2015 reboot of the franchise, it has been reported that Robbie auditioned
03:00for the role but ultimately lost out to Kate Mara.
03:04Then, in 2019, Disney's purchase of 20th Century Fox meant that the Fantastic Four
03:12were coming home to the MCU, and once again rumours began circulating regarding Robbie
03:17being brought in as the Invisible Woman.
03:18However, that didn't happen, again, as Vanessa Kirby was cast in the role instead.
03:23Although, rather than losing the part, this time, some sources say that it was Robbie
03:27who declined the offer.
03:34With the release of Speed in 1994, Sandra Bullock went from relatively unknown actress
03:39to Hollywood superstar.
03:40Before this movie, she probably wouldn't have been considered for the role of Wonder
03:43Woman.
03:44However, after its release, Bullock shot right up to the top of the list, becoming a top
03:48contender for the Amazonian superhero.
03:55In fact, a 1999 article in Empire Magazine reported that Bullock had been cast in the
03:59role for an upcoming Wonder Woman film.
04:01Unfortunately, the film never materialised, and we never got to see Bullock don the bracelets
04:05of submission or wield the lasso of truth.
04:19While he has built some solid superhero cred by voicing Batman in a number of animated
04:22movies, Jenson Ackles has yet to portray a superhero on the big screen.
04:26It's not for lack of trying, though.
04:29Ackles initially auditioned for the role of Captain America, but he didn't impress the
04:32studio as much as Chris Evans, so he was passed over.
04:36Nonetheless, they liked Ackles enough to offer him the chance of playing Hawkeye in the MCU.
04:41Unfortunately, or fortunately for Supernatural fans, Ackles had to decline the offer due
04:45to his commitments to the CW series.
04:55In 1999, Rachel Lee Cook became a teen rom-com icon, starring in She's All That, a film
05:00that defined the genre for a generation of moviegoers.
05:04After taking off her glasses, Cook received numerous film offers, including the opportunity
05:08to play Rogue in the X-Men movie.
05:11However, she turned it down, telling the New York Times in 2021 that she wanted to, quote,
05:17avoid acting on a green screen.
05:18It is a decision that Cook quickly regretted, though, admitting that, quote, as soon as
05:23I saw the posters for it, I knew that I'd made a mistake.
05:26In a fun twist, though, you may remember that the role ended up going to Anna Paquin, who
05:30actually took off Cook's glasses in She's All That.
05:38Oh, mamma mia, Amanda Seyfried could've been Gamora.
05:50While Zoe Saldana has been great in the role, Marvel first offered the part to Ms Seyfried,
05:55who turned it down.
05:59I mean, it was hers if she wanted it, but she didn't.
06:04Why, you ask?
06:05Well, according to multiple reports, it came down to two things.
06:08First, Seyfried wasn't psyched about spending all those hours in the make-up chair to turn
06:12green.
06:13Also, she had strong doubts that the film would be successful, and didn't want to
06:16star in the first box office bomb in the MCU.
06:19Seyfried admitted that she wondered who would want to see a movie about a talking tree and
06:23a raccoon.
06:24Well, millions, apparently.
06:36We all know that Jake Gyllenhaal played supervillain Mysterio in 2019's Spider-Man Far From Home,
06:41but had things gone a little differently, Gyllenhaal could've been Spider-Man himself
06:45many years prior.
06:46Following the massive success of the first Spider-Man movie back in 2002, complications
06:50arose regarding Tobey Maguire's return for the sequel.
06:53Maguire demanded a higher salary, which the studio initially refused.
07:03With the actor's participation up in the air, the studio went looking for a replacement,
07:07and Gyllenhaal's name was on that list.
07:09But that's as far as it goes, as the issues with Maguire were eventually resolved and
07:13he continued in the role.
07:23Forget Blade, there's an alternate reality where Wesley Snipes played a different Marvel
07:27character in the 90s.
07:28After hits like Jungle Fever and White Men Can't Jump, Snipes was on a definite hot
07:32streak.
07:33So, he was the perfect person to bring the Black Panther character to life.
07:40So, why didn't it happen?
07:43Well, there are many reasons.
07:45While they did get three scripts written, this wasn't ever going to be an easy project
07:48to get over the finish line.
07:49The technology wasn't advanced enough, and even the name Black Panther was more associated
07:53with the National Revolutionary Group than the comic book character.
07:56To quote Snipes,
07:57Long story short, we didn't end up making it.
08:07Benedict Cumberbatch was director Scott Derrickson's first choice for Doctor Strange, and luckily,
08:12it all worked out for that to happen.
08:13However, there was initially a scheduling conflict that took Cumberbatch out of the
08:16running, so Derrickson had to consider other actors.
08:20And the one he looked at the hardest was Joaquin Phoenix.
08:26Derrickson liked Phoenix, and both men had some productive discussions about the character,
08:30but as he told Slash Film,
08:32it soon became clear to both of us that this might not be a good fit.
08:35Determined to get Cumberbatch in the Doctor Strange suit, Derrickson went to the studio
08:38and asked them to move the shooting dates to fit Cumberbatch's schedule.
08:42And they did.
08:55Let us tell you about how Chris Hemsworth's impressive physique ruined John Krasinski's
08:59chances to be Captain America.
09:01Apparently, Krasinski had made it to the stage of testing costumes for the role.
09:04However, as he tried out the tight outfit, Hemsworth walked by, and casually remarked...
09:17After seeing Hemsworth's ripped body though, Krasinski instantly knew he was outmatched
09:21and decided to bow out.
09:23While that is a funny anecdote Krasinski has shared time and time again, the actor actually
09:27admits that he just wasn't a perfect fit for the character, which ultimately went to
09:31That's too bad though, because who wouldn't have loved to see Captain America put Iron
09:35Man's stapler in Jell-O?
09:46Not every choice in life is binary, but for Emily Blunt, choosing between Gulliver's
09:49travels and playing Black Widow in Iron Man 2 seems to have been exactly that.
09:54Although, using the word choice in this case may be a bit of a misnomer really.
09:58Because you see, it wasn't her choice at all.
10:00If it had been, Blunt would have been Black Widow, as she was first offered the role by
10:05Marvel.
10:06However, Blunt also had a contract with 20th Century Fox which pretty much obligated her
10:12to make Gulliver's travels instead.
10:17As a result, she was forced to turn down the Black Widow role, which she admitted to Howard
10:21Stern was a bit of a heartbreaker.
10:36There are so many layers to this one.
10:38Let's start off with the fact that the eventual Thor, Chris Hemsworth, had such an unimpressive
10:42first reading that he was almost let down on the spot.
10:45His brother Liam Hemsworth also auditioned, but was apparently too young for the part.
10:49In there was Tom Hiddleston, who did well enough in his first reading that he was given
10:53six weeks to bulk up.
10:57However, director Kenneth Branagh ultimately decided that he was better suited for Loki,
11:03a winning decision for Marvel fans everywhere.
11:05As for Chris Hemsworth, his agent pushed hard for him to get a second chance, and once he
11:09grabbed that second chance hammer, no one else was worthy of the role.
11:17Annette Bening made 12 films in the 1990s, yet she didn't appear in any in the years
11:261992 and 1993.
11:29Was it that she just wasn't offered any roles?
11:31Well, no.
11:32In fact, she had already secured the part of Catwoman in Batman Returns, the 1992 sequel
11:36to Tim Burton's Batman.
11:44And she really wanted to do it, as well.
11:47The issue was that she also got pregnant around the same time, and a pregnancy just doesn't
11:51go well with a tight-fitting catsuit.
11:53As she revealed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast,
11:55The role ultimately went to Michelle Pfeiffer, who won universal acclaim for her portrayal.
12:11Cillian Murphy has worked with director Christopher Nolan multiple times over the last two decades,
12:16starting with 2005's Batman Begins.
12:19Murphy played Dr Jonathan Crane, aka Scarecrow, in the movie, but he actually first auditioned
12:23for the titular role.
12:29He might not seem like the most obvious choice to play the Caped Crusader, which he has also
12:33acknowledged in interviews.
12:34As he told Mark Maron on the WTF podcast,
12:37Nolan wanted me to screen test for Batman, which I think I knew, and he knew, I was wrong
12:41for.
12:42Murphy went ahead with the audition anyway, and we're all glad he did, because it led
12:45to him being cast as Scarecrow, a role he was definitely right for.
13:01There are few actors as synonymous with a superhero role as Hugh Jackman is with Wolverine.
13:05That said, the only reason he got the role was because shooting on Mission Impossible
13:082 went over schedule.
13:10You see, Dougray Scott was cast as Wolverine, and even signed on for a multi-film deal.
13:16But Scott was also playing rogue IMF agent Sean Ambrose in MI2.
13:24So when that film went long, and Scott got injured while filming a motorcycle chase scene,
13:29it became an impossible mission to go and make X-Men.
13:31Thus, he had to back out, paving the way for Hugh Jackman to take over.
13:39There are so many awesome things about this one.
13:45First is the fact that James Cameron wanted to make a Spider-Man movie in the 90s.
13:49Second is that reports had him casting Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role of Otto Octavius.
13:55And third is that he was eyeing Leonardo DiCaprio as Peter Parker.
14:00So, how close did this actually come to being a reality?
14:05Well, according to DiCaprio, not very close.
14:08But he did reveal that there was a screenplay written, and he had multiple conversations
14:11with Cameron about it.
14:12So that's close enough for this list.
14:24Tom Cruise had been one of the biggest stars in Hollywood for over three decades, and that
14:28fame is precisely why he wasn't cast as Iron Man.
14:30Normally, being a big star gets you big roles, but it also comes with a hefty salary.
14:35While we now know that 2008's Iron Man kicked off one of the most successful film
14:39franchises ever, back then there simply was no guarantee that that would be the case.
14:47As revealed in the book, MCU The Reign of Marvel Studios, Cruise's asking fee at the
14:51time was more than even a profitable studio like Fox was willing to risk on an untested
14:55superhero property.
14:57As such, they found a safer choice in Robert Downey Jr.
15:24Yes, yes, we know that Nicolas Cage had a brief cameo as Superman in 2023's The Flash,
15:32but here we're talking about Cage potentially playing the Man of Steel in a 90s movie called
15:37Superman Lives.
15:38And listen to these names.
15:39Not only was Cage going to play Superman, but the film was going to be directed by Tim
15:43Burton and written by Kevin Smith.
15:45Now come on, how awesome does that sound?
15:53Unfortunately producer John Peters had some weird story alterations like Superman not
15:57being able to fly and a requisite battle with a giant spider.
16:01These strange demands, alongside budget concerns, ultimately led to the death of Superman Lives.
16:13So which of these almost superhero castings do you wish had become a reality?
16:17Let us know in the comments below.