12 Terrible Early Concepts That Almost Ruined Iconic Heroes
6. Superman Could've Been Nicolas Cage With A Mane
Imagine how the entire outlook on Superman movies would have changed if this little doozy had actually happened... Having previously directed the first Batman movies with Michael Keaton (a franchise that he was born to direct), Tim Burton was actually set to direct the Superman movie Superman Lives in 1998 (a franchise he certainly wasn't born to direct). In this potential calamity, which was conceived as a concept, drafted and almost filmed, Superman was set to appear with a long mane of hair and Nicolas Cage was envisioned to play the Man of Steel - in fact, he actually tested for it in full costume (the footage of which has recently been made public).
Nicolas Cage as Superman just wouldn't work and the look was terrible. We'd never have been able to take a Superman movie seriously again.
Here is some more footage of the potential look of Superman in this movie... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfcJc7j_A3Y Yuck.
