3. Batman vs. Superman
What Was It: Not the upcoming film from Zack Snyder featuring the return of Henry Cavill's Superman and the debut of Ben Affleck's Batman (plus Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman and Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor), but rather an earlier attempt to bring together DC's two biggest heroes on the big screen. Wolfgang Petersen was set to direct this film with a screenplay from Andrew Kevin Walker and Akiva Goldsman. The role of Superman was pretty much Jude Law's if he wanted it and Christian Bale and Colin Farrell were in consideration for Batman (this was pre-Batman Begins). Unlike most superhero movie reboots, this would have taken place after Superman and Batman had been active for some time. Bruce Wayne would have retired from Batman following the death of Nightwing which led him on a criminal killing spree and was set to get married. Clark Kent, his best friend, would still have been operating as Superman. However, his personal life would be a mess, with him and Lois Lane getting a divorce (a subplot involved him reconnecting with former flame Lana Lang, however). Barbara Gordon would also appear, but she would have also retired from the vigilante business and would have instead taken over her father's former position as commissioner. A plot by Lex Luthor involved resurrecting the long-dead Joker to torment Bruce, killing his new wife and leading Batman and Superman into a confrontation with each other. While the script had some good moments, Batman was a bit too bloodthirsty and Superman came off as a bit too detached from humanity at times. It also wasn't quite clear whether or not this movie would follow the continuity of previous Batman and Superman films, as there were elements of both present in them.
What Happened: Law, although he loved the script, was nervous about signing a multi-picture contract because he was afraid scripts for future installments wouldn't be as good as this one. Petersen later left the project as shooting dates were in the planning stages and Warner Brothers instead shifted their prospects to Batman and Superman solo features.