12 Depressing Alternate Endings That Were Way Better Than The Originals

8. Hancock

Hancock had a lot of potential to be the post-superhero movie that everyone wanted to see. The casting of Will Smith might have made any darkness a little difficult to retain, but the original script would have been a vast improvement on how the film actually ended, with its confused identity and jarring shift in gear.

And that's not to mention the bloody heart he draws on the moon. In the original version, Hancock can't get over his obsession with Mary, but it isn't because she's his perfect match and a fellow superhero - instead she's just a normal everyday hottie who he kidnaps and plots to force himself on. That's right, rape. That in itself doesn't make the film better - that would be fairly unforgivable - but the far darker tone, and the opportunity for Hancock to come to terms with his actions - though he never goes through with the attack, he does kill all of the cops who come to rescue her.

At this stage Hancock decides to kill himself, somehow forgetting that he is invincible, so it doesn't work, and the ending leaves him to an imagined future of miserable self-loathing that is perfectly suited to the character and a more satisfying experience than the BS candy-coated version that ended up happening. The original was an opportunity to explore a realm of superhero lore that had never been done before, and Hancock would have been a remarkably brave, but hugely depressing film.

The Problem

Will Smith might have made a massive mistake when he signed up for M Night Shymalan's latest film, but he isn't about to build his meticulously plotted career on movie rape and suicide, now is he?

Also, despite Chris Nolan's best efforts, summer blockbuster audiences aren't yet quite ready to embrace ambiguity when we're exploring such murky moral waters, and there would be clamour to ret-con some scenes in to deal with Hancock's naughtiness.