9 Actors Who Almost Played Comic Book Villains

The last couple of years have seen Sam Rockwell finally getting the sort of attention and acclaim he's long deserved, but it all could've happened much earlier. The Oscar-winner was one the final contenders on Christopher Nolan's shortlist of actors to play the Joker in The Dark Knight, coming very close to a role that redefined what an actor could accomplish in superhero cinema.

Rockwell is a lively, unpredictable character with a great ability to completely immerse himself and fully embody a particular role, especially ones of figures that are pretty despicable.

Ledger is iconic as the Joker, in a rare and beautiful meeting of actor and character that none of us saw coming. It's difficult to imagine anyone else having played it, but while Rockwell may not have topped it, you can bet he'd have done something really interesting with the character.

He did eventually make his way into a comic book movie, playing arms dealer Justin Hammer Iron Man 2 (and a single shot in Iron Man 3), but the smaller role couldn't make full use of his abilities, and it'd be great to see him given another crack, whether that's more of Hammer or a different comic book character altogether.