5. Wolfgang Petersen's Batman vs Superman
What Could Have Been: After years of failed attempts to resuscitate both the Batman and Superman franchises, Warner Bros. announced in 2002 that Wolfgang Petersen would direct a movie that featured both of the iconic characters. Scripted by Seven's Andrew Kevin Walker and polished by Akiva Goldsman, the story saw the two heroes brought together when The Joker murders Bruce Wayne's wife, with Lex Luthor also heavily involved. Jude Law and Josh Hartnett were rumored for Superman, with Colin Farrell and a certain Christian Bale being eyed for the role of the Caped Crusader. However, the studio became more enamored with the idea of separate franchises and Petersen departed the project to make Troy instead.
What We Got Instead: Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy arguably became the pinnacle of the superhero genre, while lukewarm reception to Bryan Singer's Superman Returns nixed any franchise potential. Zack Snyder's rebooted Man of Steel became a highly divisive movie in its own right, but grossed $668m at the box office. A Comic-Con announcement re-ignited the Batman vs Superman project, with Snyder set to introduce a new cinematic version of Batman into his universe along with the big-screen debut of Wonder Woman.
The Verdict: It's impossible to tell seeing as Snyder's movie has yet to start shooting, and the only lasting legacy of Petersen's efforts are hidden on a billboard in I Am Legend so it hardly casts a shadow. The casting of Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot and Jesse Eisenberg has created plenty of buzz, but it remains to be seen if the script is good enough to maintain the delicate balance between Man of Steel sequel, Batman reboot and setup for a potential Justice League movie. With Snyder behind the camera the results will be visually spectacular at least, but the director will be under intense scrutiny for what is one of the most anticipated movies of all time. With the 2002 version of the script available to read on line, it will be interesting to compare the two when the movie hits theaters in 2016.