10 Superhero Films You Won't Believe Could Have Happened
2. Tim Burton's Superman
Long story short: Tim Burton almost did a Superman film - Superman Lives - written by Kevin Smith (initially). Smith was hamstrung by producer, Jon Peters, who - be forewarned - is absolutely insane. The film was... well... how about you just read some of Peters's ideas. Among them were:
Superman couldn't be seen flying. Logical.
He couldn't wear his cape or classic suit, because Peters thought it was - and this is an awful direct quote - "too faggy". Lovely guy...
Superman HAD to fight a giant spider by the end, because of course.
Brainiac would've had to fight a polar bear at the Fortress of Solitude.
Lex Luthor needed a space dog, because merchandising.
Brainiac needed a robot sidekick, L-Ron, who Peters described as a "gay R2-D2 with attitude".
Brainiac and Lex Luthor would've combined into some sort of weird amalgamation called Lexiac.
Let's not forget that Nicolas Cage - NICOLAS CAGE - was signed on to play the titular character. He wasn't Smith's choice, of course. No, Smith's choice was Ben Affleck, and he was angling for Jason Lee as Brainiac and Jack Nicholson as Lex Luthor. Burton, meanwhile, wanted Kevin Spacey as Luthor and Christopher Walken as Brainiac.
So... there's that.
Thank whatever god you pray to that we were spared this film.