15 Actors Who Really Wanted To Be In Comic Book Movies (And Failed)

12. Donald Glover Wanted To Be Spider-Man

Donald Glover Spider-Man
Marvel

The original campaign for Donald Glover €“ otherwise known by rap alias Childish Gambino €“ to become the new Spider-Man began before Andrew Garfield was given his run as Peter Parker in the Amazing Spider-Man reboot, and his name has come up again since Marvel announced that they had struck a deal with Sony to bring everyone€™s favourite web-slinger to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Glover as Peter Parker has split opinion, though Marvel founder and Spidey creator Stan Lee did say that he would be behind the idea, and Marvel have since actually created a character inspired in part by Glover named Miles Morales €“ an African-Hispanic teen who takes up the Spider-Man mantle after Peter Parker€™s death. Glover voices Morales in the cartoon version, though he has been coy over portraying Spidey on the big-screen:

€œI can€™t say I€™m the next Spider-Man. I can€™t say (I€™m not) either, I mean, it€™s not out yet. There€™s been talking about it, I€™d be honoured to play it, it€™s really not up to me. I personally think I would be amazing, like The Amazing Spider-Man.€

11. Nicolas Cage Really Wanted To Be Superman

Nicolas Cage Superman
Warner Bros.

After what he did for the Batman franchise, Tim Burton was head-hunted by Warner Brothers to do the same thing with DC's Superman after the studio acquired the rights in the early 90s. Clerks creator and self-proclaimed comic nerd Kevin Smith was one of the many screenwriters drafted in to re-imagine the man of steel, with Nicolas Cage in the starring role.

Superman Lives, as it was to be titled, was set to feature a black Superman suit in favour of him being constantly in his famous blue and red latex, though numerous disagreements and rewrites meant that the movie never saw the light of day, something Cage actually feels may have been the best outcome:

€œThe only thing I€™ll say about that €“ because that is such a lightning rod hot topic and if I say anything at all it just seems to snowball €“ but I will say that I had great belief in that movie and what Tim Burton€™s vision was. I would have loved to have seen it, but I feel that in many ways, it was sort of a win/win because of the power of imagination. I think people can actually see the movie in their minds now and imagine it and in many ways that might resonate more deeply than the finished project.€

Cage is known to be a fan of Marvel's heroes too (his stage name is taken from the Marvel character Luke Cage) and as far back as 1997 expressed an interest in portraying Iron Man on screen, a decade before Robert Downey Jr's version came out. Cage did get to play Marvel's Ghost Rider on screen, though the less said about that the better.

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Phil still hasn't got round to writing a profile yet, as he has an unhealthy amount of box sets on the go.