Heath Ledger was perfect as the Joker, despite fan reactions to his casting, and Michael Keaton was a great Batman, despite fan reactions to his casting. Sometimes Hollywood gets these sort of bold, creative decisions right, and the pay offs are enormous.
But then sometimes, some lunatic with a casting couch decides that the best way to make a superhero film is to ignore all logic and cast actors wholly unsuitable to the roles, with the faint expectation that somehow, it would all come off. Thankfully, the flat-out ludicrous casting dodged bullets below are just that, and we were never treated to the sight of any of this motley crew in the roles that could have been theirs.
First up, an immediate rule breaker…
Honourable Mention
Tim Burton As The Director Of Superman Lives
He made Batman, and it was great. He then made Batman Returns, and it was also great. But had Tim Burton made Superman, we would have had another terrible Superman movie, which would have pretty much destroyed everything fans knew and loved about the Superman property.
Regardless of what the plot was to be, or the casting decision behind the film – which for the record were diabolical with Nic Cage as Supes, Chris Rock as Jimmy Olsen, Tim Allen as Brainiac and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor (the only sensible decision of the entire ridiculous project) – it was Burton’s influence that would have been worst.
I’m a big fan of Burton – I will apologise for his terrible work because of his commitment to his artistic vision, but even I recognise that his idiosyncratic imagination would have ruined Superman’s wholesome image, even if Smith’s script might have made a good movie (albeit without Jon Peters’ ludicrous suggestions.)
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14 Comments
how about the rumor that guy pearce was supposed to be ras al ghul in batman begins?? good actor but that wouldve been a horrible choice for ducard/ ras
The only one of those that I think COULD have worked is actually Madonna as Harley. And that’s simply because Harley’s personality is so damn weird, that a cookie individual who happens to be a terrible actress might be the only kind of individual to pull it off. Even if they did so by accident.
I actually think Krasinski would have been an awesome Captain America and remember hoping I wanted him when rumors about the casting started.
Think about it: seeing Krasinski from The Office and Pratt from Parks and Recreation would have been pretty cool.
First rule of film making: Do not cast Nicholas Cage
This list is bizarre by the way :)
Willem Dafoe would be the perfect Batman if they made the Dark Knight Returns. Or maybe even Batman Beyond.
I would have loved to see Brittany Murphy cast as Harley Quin. I believe she could have pulled off the sexy/crazy aspect and the east coast accent. Ironically, she died the same death as Heath Ledger. Both were taken away too early.
Nick Cage could have been a decent scarecrow but you’re right, you would have needed a cattle prod to keep him under control.
Can there ever be another on screen Superman since Christopher Reeve filled the role? I know they’ve tried but no one has nailed it like he did. Another tragic loss for movie fans.
Maybe we should investigate the link between playing superheroes and meeting an untimely death???
Aside from Reeve, Reeves and even Robert Lowery, I can’t think of any heroes who have met an untimely death.
There is no link between caped crusaders and untimely deaths.
i think if tom cruise had been cast he would have made a predictable success of the role – but i doubt there would be an avengers / iron man franchise and Downey jnr’s creation which is a revelation. However Tom Cruise is a very good technical actor and he knows just how to get the audience on his side – just look at the latest mission impossible – despite what you think of cruise’s ‘real’ life – you like him in that role. In fact if Cruise had taken the role, Robert Downey jnr would’ve ended up ….. in this article.
neil diamond as superman ? neil diamond as binyamin netanyahu ( as per your picture ) more like. time for a biopic
I cant believe you left out JACK BLACK as Green Lantern. He would have totally ruined the character. Sure the movie didnt do so well, but you gotta admit Ryan Reynolds did justice to Hal Jordan.
Cage as Scarecrow would’ve been awesome! His acting is like he’s inhaled a whole ton of Scarecrow’s toxin anyway.
Bill Murray as Batman would have made the world a funnier place. I don’t care how bad of a movie that would have been, I would watch it over and over, and then once more.
Nick Cage was also almost the Green Goblin in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movie.
What’s missing from this list is Will Smith as Neo in “The Matrix.” He was the first choice for Neo, but he turned it down in favor of “Wild Wild West.”
It would be interested to see Keanu Reeve’s “whoa” replaced with “Oh hell no!”