12 Directors You Didn't Know Almost Made Comic Book Movies
4. McG - Superman: Flyby
Superman: Flyby was a franchise reboot working from a script written by J.J. Abrams, with McG (Charlie's Angels, Terminator Salvation) originally set to direct before bailing out in the early 2000s.
McG returned after shooting Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and planned to cast Shia LaBeouf (Jimmy Olsen) and Robert Downey Jr (Lex Luthor), though he again left the project after his fear of flying prevented him from shooting the movie in Australia.
Eventually Flyby's script was abandoned and Bryan Singer was instead brought on-board to direct 2006's Superman Returns.
Would It Have Worked?: Well, McG's track record isn't exactly stellar: Charlies Angels is the only one of his six movies to receive positive reviews to date. Abrams' script definitely works in his favour, but we all know how great scripts can be derailed by shoddy direction.
Plus, Shia LaBeouf? Hmmm.