9 Incredible Pieces Of Concept Art From Cancelled Superhero Films

Most comic book adaptations get made as planned, go on to make millions and introduce classic heroes and villains to a new generation of fans. Others endure a troubled journey to the screen, and some never even make it before the cameras.

More than a handful of superhero films, some more promising than others, have been announced and assigned to a director, only to be cancelled before taking shape.

Fan just love to speculate about how these movies might have turned out. A select few could have been classics, while others would probably have set comic book adaptations back even further than Batman & Robin.

Sometimes scripts from these projects turn up online, but often the only hints about how they might have shaped up come from concept art the studio released to drum up hype, or the designs that were leaked long after the plans turned to dust.

There's a mountain of old concept art out there, giving fans a glimpse at the superhero movies that only happened in a parallel universe, and here are some of the most striking sketches and illustrations...

Superman Lives is an aborted comic book adaptation so legendary that it even has a documentary dedicated to it. Nicolas Cage would have played the Man of Steel, Kevin Smith was on scripting duties and Tim Burton was set to direct.

This would have been a Superman movie like no other, with the death and resurrection of a flightless Supes, a Fortress of Solitude guarded by polar bears and a giant mechanical spider among the highlights from Smith's script, which he drafted after raiding Jay and Silent Bob's secret stash, from the sound of it.

Lex Luthor and Brainiac were the movie's villains, and it's the latter who is featured in this piece of concept art. The alien mastermind is depicted as a twisted amalgamation of man and machine here, though numerous redesigns were later proposed.

Brainiac and Luthor's dastardly scheme involved blocking out the sun to weaken Superman before unleashing Doomsday to finish him off. From there, the story would have loosely followed the Death and Return of Superman comic book arc, with some bizarre deviations along the way.

Superman Lives would either have a been a subversive classic or the worst thing to happen to DC Comics on screen since Joel Schumacher.