12 Directors You Didn't Know Almost Made Comic Book Movies

After Superman Returns was a box office disappointment, Warner Bros. quickly moved ahead with a totally delineated Justice League movie entitled Justice League: Mortal, with Brandan Routh not asked to reprise his role as the Man of Steel.

Barely a year after Returns was released, Mad Max's George Miller had been signed to direct Mortal on a huge $220 million budget, with the cast including D. J. Cotrona (Superman), Armie Hammer (Batman), Megan Gale (Wonder Woman), Teresa Palmer (Talia al Ghul), Columbus Short (Green Lantern), Adam Brody (The Flash) and Jay Baruchel (villain Maxwell Lord).

The Writer's Strike of 2007-2008 threw a spanner in the works, as well as the Australian government's refusal to grant Warner Bros. a tax break (believing there weren't enough Aussie actors in the movie), and after The Dark Knight slayed the box office, Warner instead allowed Christopher Nolan to finish out his trilogy unrivaled.

Of course, a Justice League movie is finally now happening amid much controversy and fan hand-wringing, and really could go either way.

Would It Have Worked?: Miller has proven himself a master of blockbuster filmmaking time and time again, though that cast is incredibly suspect on paper.