10 Unmade Comic Book Movies That Could Have Been Awesome

Best known in live-action as the title character of the CW's vigilante soap opera, the Green Arrow was at one point mooted to be the central character in what would have been a truly unique comic book movie. In an era before shared cinematic universes really took off, Escape From Super Max was billed as a high-concept prison break superhero blockbuster that featured cameos from right across DC's extensive rogues gallery.

Super Max had an absolutely killer hook; Oliver Queen is wrongly imprisoned for the assassination of a government official, and must reluctantly form alliances with already-incarcerated supervillains in order to escape and clear his name. Co-writer Justin Marks, an architecture major in college, was enthusiastic about making the prison a character in itself while David Goyer teased cameos from Amanda Waller, the Riddler, Lex Luthor and even some overt nods to a certain Clown Prince of Crime.

If the script had lived up to its undoubted potential and a strong enough director was brought on board to steer the ship, Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max could have been something special. Foregoing the usual origin stories and expansive world-building in favor of a refreshing single-location story, the cancelled project could have both put a new spin on the comic book genre and turned the frequently-overlooked Green Arrow into a top-tier superhero.