10 'What If?' Scenarios That Almost Changed Comic Book Movies Forever

In a seemingly deliberate attempt to confuse audiences, George Miller's Justice League starring Armie Hammer as Batman was originally set for release in 2009, one year after Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight starring Christian Bale as Batman. How this project made it so far along before it got cancelled is a mystery.

As well as Hammer playing the Caped Crusader the cast also had DJ Cotrona as Superman, Common as Green Lantern, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody as The Flash and Jay Baruchel of all people playing lead villain Maxwell Lord. The $220m budget was approved, storyboards were completed, costume tests were underway, locations were scouted and a production team was hired. It seemed like this thing was really going to happen.

Obviously it didn't, and that's probably for the best. When Justice League was set to begin shooting, Superman Returns was still getting a sequel and The Dark Knight was already in production. There was no reason for the project to exist at the time.

Had it come out as planned, based on the script it would have been... interesting to say the least, but Justice League could have posed bigger problems than narrative ones. Dropping new versions of iconic characters into a standalone blockbuster without explanation (especially ones that are in the middle of their own unrelated and ongoing franchises) always seemed like an odd move, and one that could have potentially damaged the DC brand in the long run.