With Dark Knight hitting theatres at midnight tonight, it seems like every one’s main focus on the movie is how great the cast is. While I agree 100% that this is easily some of the best casting jobs in a comic book movie ever, I also can’t stress how insanely lucky we are considering the close calls we’ve had over the years. So without further ado the following is the top ten closest calls for comic book fans; those actors who are good in their own right but as a particular super hero could honestly be as sucktastic as George Clooney and those God awful bat nipples. While some of these roles were just rumors, there are a few actors that were actually attached to the roles and almost happened. Either way, they are pretty scary to think about had any of these come to pass.
10. Tom Cruise as Batman/Superman/Iron Man
Now granted this one almost happened in the mid to early 90’s and Tom Cruise was the hottest thing on the street as far as casting directors went. However the fact still stands that they tried to cast Tom Cruise not only as the Man of Steel, but the Dark Knight as well—leading to what would have no doubt been a complete and utter disaster and possibly ruining either of the franchises even further. Granted when they didn’t go with him on either role they came up with some , dare I say , even worse ideas but at least to date we still haven’t seen Mr. Cruise in any type of Cape, or bad ass suit. All though we dodged a more recent bullet with him as well as he was also originally tied to the role of billionaire Tony Stark, leaving us with yet another close call.
9. Nicholas Cage as Superman
Proof that obsession and constant pursuit doesn’t always get you where you want in Hollywood, in 1994 Tim Burton was attached to direct a new Superman movie, and Nicholas Cage wanted nothing more than to fill the Big Red boots, keeping it no secret that he always wanted to play a superhero the man even named his first born Kal-El to show his love of Superman. Of course the entire project was actually dropped, and it made for some very interesting interviews with Kevin Smith (who was selected to write it), which you can find on Youtube. Though this obviously didn’t stop here as he went on to play the demonic biker, Ghost Rider last year. Needless to say though if Burton were to direct Superman now the role would undoubtedly go to Johnny Depp.
8. Matthew Mcconaughey as Captain America
7. Will Smith as Robin
Another “rumor only” as far as I know, before Batman Forever was cast, or even finished being written, the rumor mill was turning that the young Fresh Prince was going to step up as the boy wonder. This easily makes the weirdest one on the list, yet I’m sure he would have been fine with the line “Holy Wrong Movie Batman!” While the role went to the very slightly more fitted Chris O’Donnell who knows what twist the Fresh Prince would have brought to the young side kick’s character. This is yet another actor however that moved on from not receiving a superhero role and still managing Super Hero stardom, as he ended up playing the original hero in one of this summer’s most fun movies, Hancock.
6. Billy Dee Williams as Two Face
5. Leonardo DiCaprio as Spider-Man
This is hilarious simply for the fact that he and Tobey were such good friends growing up, so much so that they were even on the same little league bowling team. This is the one that was most rumored out of all on this list, as it wasn’t even denied by Marvel, making it such a poor choice they didn’t even bother to let people know it was false. In all honesty this could have been the worst choice ever as Spider-Man, next to George Clooney of course, and I would have much rather had the other rumored, Jake Gyllenhaal swinging around. Granted after the appalling Spider-Man 3 performance by Tobey McGuire I would say that Dicaprio could have been a step up….or maybe just not as bad.
4. Cillian Murphy as Batman
While he wasn’t rumored to play Batman, he has admitted in interviews that he showed up to audition to try out as Batman originally. Chris Nolan even said he was in the running choice had Bale turned the role down (which was originally going to happen), however his schedule worked out and we have the best Batman to date (next to Adam West of course). Now Cillian was an amazing Scarecrow but unfortunately as a Batman it would have been so much more dry and boring, and possibly the third worst actor in history to play Batman, however things worked out to where he was still in Batman, just NOT Batman making everyone, including the fans, very happy.
3. Dougray Scott as Wolverine
Most people are saying “Who in the hell is Dougray Scott”, while I’m not exactly sure, I think he is the dude from Mission Impossible II. Which guy you ask? Well one of the guys…..I’m not sure which….maybe the bad guy? Well either way IMDB trivia states that he was originally up for the role of Wolverine and I think we are so much happier with Hugh Jackman because while no names will sometimes work out really well, the man looks like a complete tool, and would ruin the long metal claws for every…..almost as much as Brett Ratner tried to ruin them.
2. Sarah Michelle Gellar as Rouge
Keeping with the X-Men beat a big name actress almost stepped into a role, which an “almost no name” actress did so much better with. Sarah Michelle Gellar was so close to ruining yet another character in a movie, that I am not sure the franchise would have survived it. While they were able to push for a second Scooby-Doo movie, the woman has pretty much ruined any type of movie she has touched. With the role of Rouge being no exception I’m sure. Proving me wrong from the my pervious statement, that big name actors are not always the way to go, and thanks to Bryan Singer that he agreed with that too, even if he did still cast Halle Berry as Storm.
1. Clint Eastwood as Superman
Really? I mean REALLY?!? Yeah Richard Donner almost cast Clint Eastwood as Superman back in 1978 which easily earns number one on my worst choice list. The man is a bad ass in every way shape and form, and if they ever make a movie based off of Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come, then he could easily come play old Batman, but Superman stands for Truth, Justice and the (classic) American Way. He is a good guy, not a tough guy who does good things, but Superman is a character who is truly good, and genuine in every way. Clint Eastwood however is the guy who will break in your teeth if you look at him wrong. Not to mention his tough rugged face would have looked terrible on top of some blue spandex, and it is amazing that it didn’t work out, leading Donner to find the man who will be remembered as THE Superman forever.
This one was such a close call that Billy Dee Williams actually played Harvey Dent, in Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989. While he played the politician perfectly he only signed on to the role because he was expecting it to lead to the role of the psychotic schizophrenic Two Face, which in the end would have been terrible at best. Of course this series of movies did eventually lead to the use of the character Two Face 5 years later, but it wouldn’t be Lando with the Scaring make-up, instead the role would fall to Tommy Lee Jones, an actor who received mixed emotions from fans everywhere. With Two Face coming back around in the newest installment in this great franchise, the role will now gladly fall into the capable hands of Aaron Eckhart. This one was a rumor that I was more than happy to hear Marvel put to rest only but a month ago. That’s right, the blonde curly haired southerner, Matthew Mcconaughey was rumored all over the internet to have signed on to the Star Spangled hero picking up the Shield. Of course who will actually take this role is yet to be determined but hey, if it’s not Mcconaughey then I don’t know if we can necessarily go down on our choices from here. Because let’s face it, while the man may have been able to pull off the size and look of the Captain, his acting skill is nowhere near the strength it needs to be for a role of such caliber.
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