12 Actors You Won't Believe Almost Played Iconic Comic Book Characters

Muhammad Ali was not a sportsman who transitioned into acting with the success of someone like Dwayne Johnson or Vinnie Jones. In fact, he only ever notched up four acting credits to his name; three of these were playing himself too.

The one exception to this is bizarre as well. Ali starred as Gideon Jones in slavery drama Freedom Road, a 3 hour movie with a 5.8 on IMDb after only 131 ratings. For reference, the 1978 Superman movie he was once in talks to star in has close to 150,000 ratings.

Despite a lack of acting experience though, his boxing skills and love of the celebrity lifestyle meant he was a major household name. He had box office draw potential, enough so that he was seriously considered for the role Christopher Reeve would go on to make his own.

Perhaps seriously considered is a little strong. In a damning indictment of how clueless studio heads can be, Ali was one of the front runners (along with Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman), until someone in the room mentioned he was African American.

After that, his chances of playing the character were reduced to zilch and his name was promptly scratched off.