Starting with perhaps the most notorious, Tom Cruise's Iron Man movie.
There were talks of an Iron Man movie since 1990, and Cruise became interested in the role in 1995. The project was set up at Fox at the time, but went through several studios before landing on New Line Cinema in 2000, with Cruise still attached.
David Hayter ("X-Men 2") wrote the script, and Nick Cassevetes ("The Notebook") was going to direct. In the script, Howard Stark is alive and the one running Stark Industries. Tony left the company because he didn’t want his inventions being weaponized, and now runs a startup with his team of comic relief engineers. Tony’s ex-girlfriend, NSA agent Bethany Cabe, reveals that terrorist organization Rising Dawn is using weapons based on his designs, and Tony sets out to find out how, only for a missile to blow up his car.
Tony is saved by his crew, who hook him up to a prototype suit that he can never remove. Tony proceeds to arm it to go after Rising Dawn and its secret leader, who turns out to be Howard. Jim Rhodes in there as Tony’s friend and Stark Industries’ military liaison who helps Tony. The script ends with a big battle between Iron Man and Rising Dawn in Washington, D.C., followed by a fight between Tony and Howard in the War Machine armor. In a surprising move for a blockbuster, Howard kills Bethany, and tries to shoot Tony in the back with a rocket that malfunctions and blows him up instead. We also get a sequel tease with Tony and Rhodes teaming up to destroy all Stark weapons that were sold to terrorists across the globe.
New Line had high hopes for the project and even met with Famke Janssen and Jamie Foxx for Bethany and Rhodes, but Cruise eventually lost interest and dropped out. Without him the whole thing just sort of deflated and New Line let the rights quietly revert to Marvel.
Fun fact: New Line wanted Iron Man to have a transparent faceplate to maximize Cruise’s face time. It was still the early 2000’s after all. Also, the script calls for a good old Cruise Run – in full armor.
Wasn't Nic Cage in talks for an Iron Man movie in the late '90s as well?
Camden Reed
Speaking of Iron Man, back when the project was set up at Fox in 1997, it had none other than Nicolas Cage in talks for Tony, and Quentin Tarantino eyed to direct. Jeff Vintar ("I, Robot") wrote the script in tandem with Stan Lee himself.
It's a 90's superhero movie script, though, so it is rather campy. It begins with Tony having already had his "abducted in Afghanistan" experience and trying to redeem himself by building suits of armors for firemen (appropriately called "Redeemers"). The villain here is MODOK, the leader of A.I.M., who deploys his cyber-enhanced enforcers Whiplash, Inferno and Virus to kill Tony so A.I.M. can put their puppet Jeremy Bland in charge of Stark Industries.
Tony gets shot, but is saved by his assistant Pepper Potts, who loads him into the prototype Redeemer suit. You guessed it, Tony can never remove it, so Pepper and him weaponize it so Tony can go after his killers and bring them to justice.
Vintar turned in his script the same year "Batman & Robin" happened, so you can imagine why everyone from Cage, to Tarantino, to Fox collectively decided ''better not''. Fox then put the rights up for sale, and that's how they landed on New Line's hands in the first place.
> we almost had an actress shove her foot in nick cages mouth thank god batman and robin sucked so much eh
Brody Peterson
I always thought Tony being unable to remove his armour was one of the coolest elements of his first appearance, that kinda gets dropped later on.
Chase Morgan
Captain America is the Avenger with the least amount of known pre-MCU failed movies. Between the failed 1990 movie starring Matt Salinger, the general perception of him being a jingoistic propaganda tool, the anti-American sentiment after the Iraq war, and an ongoing legal dispute with Joe Simon, nobodyr really wanted to do something with him.
There was an attempt somewhere around 2004, though. The rights belonged to Artisan Entertainment at the time, and they had David Self ("Road to Perdition") writing the script, with Jonathan Mostow ("Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines") eyed to direct. Not much is known about Self's pitch, other than that it started out in WWII, had Captain America be frozen at the end of the first act and thawed out in modern times to defend the world from evil once again.
Will Smith has notoriously revealed that at the height of his popularity he was asked to play Cap, presumably for this project, and turned it down because he felt that "Captain America is black" would overshadow everything else about the movie, and he didn't want none of that.
In the late '90s, New Line had the rights to Venom (though not Spidey) and David Goyer has written a script that was greenlit. Dolph Lundgren had agreed to play Eddie but for whatever reason it fell through and shortly after Sony bought the film rights for Spider-Man and his entire rogues' gallery.
good on will smith for being smart enough to avoid that shitshow
Angel Martinez
Thor doesn't have many pre-MCU projects either. Most notoriously, Sam Raimi unsuccessfully pitched a movie starring Kurt Russell as Thor to Sony in 1991.
The original pitch for MCU's Thor, however, was so wildly different from anything else Marvel Studios has done that it's worth a look. It was penned by Mark Protosevich ("Se7en") as a big "Lord of the Rings"-esque fantasy epic set entirely in Viking times, and with Daniel Craig in mind for Thor.
It starts out with Thor and Loki visiting Dwarf King Ivaldi to get weapons for Asgard's ongoing war with Jotunheim. They end up being ambushed by the Frost Giants, and Loki learns he is one of them, while Ivaldi decides to forge Thor a hammer in appreciation of Thor's bravery.
Aided by the sorceress Karnilla, Loki discovers that he is the son of Ymir, king of Frost Giants, who was murdered by Odin in a bid to expand Asgard's territory. Loki then manipulates Thor into believing that their mentor, Balder, is conspiring to usurp the throne. When Ivaldi arrives to deliver Mjolnir, Thor is overcome by its power and kills Balder in a fit of rage, causing Odin to banish him to Midgard. The strain causes Odin to go into Odinsleep, and Loki replaces him as a ruler of Asgard, conspiring with the Frost Giants to destroy Asgard. Ivaldi senses foul play, disguises Mjolnir as a stick, protected by an enchantment that allows only to worthy to wield it, and sends it to Midgard hoping it will find its way back to Thor.
It's worth noting that David Hayter is the voice of Solid Snake & Naked Snake from the Metal Gear Solid franchise
Anthony Cox
Thor ends up in Norway and becomes a slave in a village run by Bjarne and Steinar, where he befriends local farmer Elric and his family. Loki casts a plague upon the village that infects Elric's wife and daughter to spite Thor. When Thor's love Lady Sif and the Warriors Three Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun learn of Loki's actions, they travel to Midgard with help from Sif's father, Heimdall, and help Thor locate Mjolnir. Loki then awakens the Dark Elf Malekith from his slumber and sends him after them.
Word spreads that Mjolnir is at the top of a treacherous mountain, and we get a mad race between several factions to get there: We have Thor, who wants to get his groove back. We have Elric, who wants to save his family. We have Bjarne, who turns out to be not that bad of a guy. We have Steinar, who is that bad of a guy and betrays Bjarne. We have a last-minute psycho viking, Gunnar. Plus Lady Sif & the Warriors Three AND Malekith.
The mountaintop battle is an absolute bloodbath that ends with Elric sacrificing himself to save Thor and Bjarne. Thor kills Malekith and goes back to Asgard just in time to repel the Frost Giant invasion led by Loki. Elric joins the battle, having ascended to Valhalla for his bravery, and Loki is ultimately forced to flee to Midgard with Karnilla, who is pregnant with his child. Thor makes amends with everyone and learns his lesson, declaring Midgard under his protection and saving Elric's family.
Matthew Vaughn was originally set to direct, but eventually dropped out as the script required A LOT of work to get down to an affordable budget. Guillermo Del Toro also (briefly) passed by the director's chair before Marvel landed on Kenneth Branagh and ordered some heavy reshoots to scale down the budget and root the movie into the MCU more, setting it on present day and introducing some classic comics characters like Jane Foster and...
Neil Gaiman and Guillermo Del Toro pitched a Doctor Strange movie to Marvel Studios in 2006-07 that was shot down. Apparently their script was too weird and pseudo-artsy, with Marvel not being in a position where they could afford to take a financial risk on it.
Lucas Moore
>In 1995, Wesley Snipes planned to star in a BLACK PANTHER movie. Terry Hayes wrote the script, which featured T’Challa growing up in the United States unaware of his royal heritage to protect him from a civil war in Wakanda. As an adult, he is discovered by his enemies and embarks on a journey to rediscover his homeland and save his people from oppression.
>Snipes met with numerous up-and-coming African-American filmmakers, including Mario Van Peebles and John Singleton, who misunderstood the subject matter and pitched a drama about a former Black Panther turned civil rights activist trying to rescue his estranged son from gang life, but was ultimately unable to attract them to the movie.
>Snipes’ struggles to find a director, coupled with Hollywood's lack of interest in Marvel properties at the time, led to the BLACK PANTHER project stalling, and Snipes turning his attention to the lower-budget, more easily marketable BLADE, which was launched in 1999 and is credited with reviving the public’s interest in comic book movies.
Tarantino almost made a Luke Cage movie in the 90's.
>"There was a time before all this Marvel shit was coming out," Tarantino said. "It was after RESERVOIR DOGS, it was before PULP FICTION, and I had thought about doing Luke Cage. Growing up I was a big comic book collector, and my two favorites were Luke Cage and Shang-Chi. I also liked Werewolf by Night, that was a great one, and Tomb of Dracula was great, but my absolute hero was Luke Cage."
>After stressing that he was the only white guy he knew who collected Luke Cage comics over all other superheroes, Tarantino noted that this would not have replaced PULP FICTION as his second film. Rather it could’ve been his third movie instead of the similarly Blaxploitation-themed JACKIE BROWN. He just couldn’t settle on casting.
>"What actually dissuaded me from doing it... My comic geek friends talked me out of it," Tarantino explained. "Because I had an idea that Laurence Fishburne would’ve been the perfect guy to play Luke Cage. And I’m talking KING OF NEW YORK-era Fishburne. But all my friends were like, ‘No, no, listen, it’s got to be Wesley Snipes.’ And I go, ‘Look, I like Wesley Snipes, but Larry Fishburne is practically Marlon Brando. I think Fish is the man.’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, but he’d have to get in shape in a big way. Snipes is that way already!’ And I go, ‘Fuck that! That’s not that important! Fuck you, you ruined the whole damn thing!’”
Ray Park almost played Iron Fist in the early 2000's.
>Ray Park was attached to play Danny Rand in a live-action Iron Fist movie for eight years, between 2000 and 2008, before the character's rights reverted to Marvel Studios in 2009, and has said on multiple occasions that it is his dream superhero role. The project was set up a New Line, with "The Big Hit" director Kirk Wong at the helm from a script by Adam Carr. After Wong left due to creative differences, Carr briefly replaced him as the director as well, but the studio was never able to crack a good story and ultimately gave up.
and then they were sent to netflix hell alas poor marvel knights
Dominic Smith
>In 2002, "Ant-Man" director Peyton Reed was in the running to write and direct FANTASTIC FOUR for 20th Century Fox. His pitch was set in the 1960's and was inspired by Richard Lester's Beatles movie "A Hard Day's Night", ignoring the origin story in favor of a slice-of-life look at a week in the lives of the Fantastic Four, during which they fight their nemesis Doctor Doom.
>Reed's proposed cast included Alexis Denisof as Reed Richards, Charlize Theron as Sue Storm, Paul Walker as Johnny Storm, John C. Reilly as Ben Grimm and Jude Law as Victor Von Doom, but Fox ultimately passed on his idea as too expensive and unconventional, and went with the traditional origin story proposed by director Tim Story.
Joe Carnahan pitched an R-rated DAREDEVIL movie set in the 1970's and starring Robert Pattinson to Fox in 2013, but they preferred to let the rights revert to Marvel in order to keep Silver Surfer and Galactus around for the franchise that they hoped that Josh Trank's Fantastic Four would launch.
Carnahan made a concept trailer that he later posted on youtube.
>Alan Cox penned a DOCTOR STRANGE movie for Regency Pictures in 1990. In the script, Stephen Strange is a powerful sorcerer trained by Merlin to defend Earth from the malevolent extradimensional conqueror Dormammu. He crosses paths with Claire Weaver, a young woman with mystical abilities, whose prophetic dreams foretell a great disaster, and takes her under his wing, training her to become his successor as Earth's sorcerer supreme.
>The pair uncovers a conspiracy masterminded by wealthy businessman Byron Mordo to facilitate Earth's ecological collapse in order to weaken its defenses and allow Dormammu to subjugate Earth. Upon learning of Strange's involvement, Dormammu sends his enforcers Baal, Moloch, Beelzebub, and Asmodeus to eliminate him and Claire, forcing the unlikely pair to race against time to defeat their enemies and save the entire world.
a weird aside: Hayter voiced Captain America on Spider-Man The Animated Series in the final seasons.
Thomas Brown
>In 1995, Chris Columbus was tapped to write and direct DAREDEVIL for Fox, with Edward Norton eyed to star and a script borrowing elements from "The Man Without Fear" and "Born Again" and featuring Elektra, Bullseye and Kingpin.
He voiced Bucky in that shitty Marvel MOBA from a few years ago too
Nolan Davis
>GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE is based on David S. Goyer's 1997 script, which Johnny Depp was in talks with New Line Cinema to star in, with Stephen Norrington ("Blade") on directing duties. Goyer's script follows the same beats - Johnny Blaze must protect Mephisto's child from her father - but in Goyer's version the child is a daughter, the mother is not part of the narrative, there is no secret society of priests that want to kill the child, and Mephisto's enforcer becomes Scarecrow rather then Blackout.
>Iron Man was going to be played by turbo manlet Tom Cruise >The project gets scraped and Iron Man is later played by RDJ, another turbo manlet
Jace Hughes
o wow thanks for letting us know this information
Brody Gutierrez
>In 1996, Universal Pictures hired Joe Johnston to direct THE INCREDIBLE HULK from a script by Jonathan Hensleight, who have previously worked with Johnston in JUMANJI. Hensleigh's script featured Bruce Banner experimenting in three death row inmates, led by the psychotic Novak, by injecting them with insect DNA modified by Gamma Radiation. The convicts before monstrous "Insect-Men" who wreak havoc and come into conflict with the Banner, who is caught in the explosion of an experimental Gamma bomb and turned into the Hulk.
>David Duchovny was in talks for Banner, with Gregory Sporleder actually signed for Novak and Lynn "Red" Williams playing another inmate, Slater. However, Johnston dropped out and although Hensleight initially convinced Universal to let him direct, they ultimately chose to replace him with a more prominent and experienced filmmaker: Ang Lee.
