THE DC FILMS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN

Man of Steel (2013)

>Christopher Nolan, Ben Affleck, Matt Reeves, Duncan Jones, Jonathan Liebesman and Darren Aronofsky were approached to direct before Zack Snyder was hired.

>In early drafts, Faora and Nam-Ek destroying Hong Kong to pressure Superman into surrendering.

>In early drafts, Superman exiles Zod to the Phantom Zone after the Battle of Metropolis, but Snyder changed it to Superman being forced to kill Zod to explore the origin of the no-kill code.

>Early cuts featured a non-linear narrative beginning with Clark Kent arriving at the Daily Planet, which was changed after poor test-screenings.

>Early cuts featured a post-credits scene of a shipment of Kryptonite being delivered to Wayne Manor, which Snyder removed at Christopher Nolan’s suggestion.

>Joe Manganiello, Zachary Levi, Armie Hammer and Colin O'Donoghue auditioned for Superman before Henry Cavill was cast.

>Anne Hathaway, Olivia Wilde, Emmy Rossum, Dianna Agron, Charlotte Riley, Kaya Scodelario, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kristen Bell, Lake Bell, Mila Kunis and Zoe Saldana auditioned for Lois Lane before Amy Adams was cast.

>Viggo Mortensen was approached for Zod before Michael Shannon was cast.

>Diane Kruger and Rosamund Pike auditioned for Faora before Antje Traue was cast.

>Viggo Mortensen was approached for Zod before Michael Shannon was cast.

>Daniel Day-Lewis, Clive Owen and Sean Penn were approached for Jor-El before Russell Crowe was cast.

>Julia Ormond and Connie Nielsen were approached for Lara before Aylet Zurer was cast.

>Bruce Greenwood, Dennis Quaid and Kurt Russell were approached for Jonathan Kent before Kevin Costner was cast.

>Sela Ward and Elisabeth Shue were approached for Martha Kent before Diane Lane was cast.

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Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

>The movie was pitched as a direct sequel to MAN OF STEEL featuring Lex Luthor and Metallo before Snyder and WB decided to include Batman.

>Josh Brolin and Ben Affleck were approached for Batman, but declined. Joe Manganiello, Matthew Goode, Richard Armitage, Max Martini and Scott Adkins auditioned before Affleck reconsidered and brought his contributor Chris Terrio to revise David Goyer's script.

>Olga Kurylenko, Elodie Yung and Emily Ratajkowski auditioned for Wonder Woman before Gal Gadot was cast.

>Joaquin Phoenix was approached for Luthor, but declined. Denzel Washington, Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon and Adam Driver were considered before Jesse Eisenberg was cast.

>Eisenberg was originally approached to play Jimmy Olsen, but declined. Snyder’s plan was to cast a famous actor as Olsen and kill him to subvert audiences’ expectations. Snyder was impressed by Eisenberg’s disdainful attitude and cast him as Luthor, retooling the character to fit Eisenberg.

>WB and Nolan were reluctant to kill Superman, but Snyder persuaded them that it was necessary for Batman’s character development.

>The movie’s disappointing critical and commercial reception led to WB changing their plans for the DCEU and moving away from Snyder’s original vision of dark and gritty “deconstructions” of the superhero genre.

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I think the cast is fine as it was, it's just the god damn script and director being fucking so anti-Superman in concept

Suicide Squad (2016)

>In early drafts, Rick Flag was the lead character, but this changed after Will Smith was cast as Deadshot.

>In early drafts, Enchantress would be influenced by the Mother Box into opening a portal to bring Steppenwolf and his army to Earth, but this was changed when Steppenwolf was made into the villain of JUSTICE LEAGUE.

>Early drafts featured King Shark, but he was considered too expensive and replaced by Killer Croc.

>In early cuts, Diablo survived, but producers demanded he either die or his backstory of accidentally killing his children be cut.

>In early cuts, the Joker and Harley Quinn’s abusive relationship is featured in flashbacks, and he pushes her out of the helicopter instead of her accidentally falling off.

>In early cuts, Enchantress brainwashes Katana into becoming her enforcer and she fights against the Suicide Squad in the final battle.

>In early cuts, the Joker is approached by Enchantress after the helicopter crash to kill the Suicide Squad in exchange for becoming the king of Gotham. Harley refuses to betray her new friends to him, forcing the Joker to flee alone.

>In early cuts, Deadshot and Harley Quinn develop a relationship.

>Oprah Winfrey and Octavia Spencer were approached for Amanda Waller before Viola Davis was cast.

>Will Smith was approached for Flag, but chose to play Deadshot. Jon Bernthal was originally approached for Deadshot.

>Tom Hardy was cast as Flag, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Bernthal, Jake Gyllenhall, Joel Edgerton and Luke Evans were approached before Joel Kinnaman was cast.

>Shia LaBeouf was approached for Edwards before Scott Eastwood was cast.

>The movie went through mass reshoots and was re-edited multiple times by different companies to add more action and humor after the negative reception to BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE.

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Wonder Woman (2017)

>WB originally planned to release the movie after JUSTICE LEAGUE.

>Michelle MacLaren would originally direct, but dropped out due to creative differences. Catherine Hardwicke, Mimi Leder, Karyn Kusama, Julie Taymor and Tricia Brock were approached before Patty Jenkins was hired.

>WB commissioned two scripts, one set in the Crimean War and one set in World War I, before ultimately choosing the latter.

>Jenkins was initially adamant that the movie be set in World War II like the comics, but Zack Snyder persuaded her to set it in WWI.

>Early cuts featured an alternative ending where Diana abandons humanity for 100 years after Steve Trevor's death, which was changed after negative reception at test-screenings.

>Early cuts featured a post-credit scene of Etta Candy being assigned to protect the Mother Box, which had been discovered by the Germans and stolen by the Americans.

>Liam Hemsworth and Alexander Skarsgard were approached for Steve Trevor before Chris Pine was cast.

>Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett were approached for Queen Hippolyta before Connie Nielsen was cast.

>Eva Green was approached for Doctor Poison before Elena Anaya was cast.

>Sean Bean was approached for Ares before David Thewlis was cast.

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Justice League (2017)

>Zack Snyder originally pitched a trilogy. In the first movie, Batman assembles the Justice League to fight Darkseid, who revives and brainwashes Superman after Lois Lane’s death. In the second movie, the Justice League and Green Lantern attempt to rescue Superman from Darkseid’s homeworld, Apokolips, and fail, resulting in Earth’s destruction. In the third movie, the Justice League fights Superman and Darkseid in the post-apocalyptic “Knightmare” world before the Flash travels back in time and Batman sacrifices himself to save Lois, changing the future. After the poor reception of BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, the script was revised into a standalone adventure with Steppenwolf as the villain and setting up Darkseid for a sequel.

>Snyder’s early cut was poorly-received. After Snyder left the project, WB hired Joss Whedon to revise the script and direct extensive reshoots. Whedon recommended delaying the movie to give him more time to work, but was refused. Whedon clashed with the studio throughout production.

>Snyder’s cut featured appearances by Darkseid, voiced by Ray Porter, and Desaad, played by Peter Guinness.

>Snyder’s cut revealed that General Calvin Swanwick, played by Harry Lennix, is actually the Martian Manhunter.

>Penn Badgley was considered for the Flash before Ezra Miller was cast.

>Michael B. Jordan was approached for Cyborg before Ray Fisher was cast.

>Mark Wahlberg was approached for Green Lantern Hal Jordan before the character was cut.

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Aquaman (2018)

>Jeff Nichols and Noam Murro were considered to direct before James Wan was hired.

>In early drafts, Arthur would duel undead Atlan for control of the trident, but further revisions changed it into Arthur confronting the Karathen.

>After the movie received positive reactions at test-screenings, Dr. Stephen Shin, played by Randall Park, was added in reshoots to set up a sequel.

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Shazam! (2019)

>Sam Raimi was approached to direct before David F. Sandberg was hired.

>In early drafts, Thaddeus Sivana frees Black Adam from confinement in the Rock of Eternity and they join forces against Shazam, but this was scrapped in order to give Black Adam his own movie.

>In early drafts, Billy Batson befriends Sivana’s estranged daughter, Bethany, who disapproves of her father’s crimes, but this was scrapped for being unnecessary.

>Early cuts feature Sivana’s mother, played by Natalia Safran, and twin sisters, both played by Lou Safran. They are the wife and daughter of producer Peter Safran.

>Dwayne Johnson, John Cena and Armie Hammer were approached for Shazam, but declined, with Johnson choosing to play Black Adam. Derek Theler, Parker Young, Joshua Sasse and Jake McDorman auditioned before Zachary Levi was cast.

>Jack Dylan Grazer auditioned for Billy Batson before being cast as Freddy Freeman.

>Ron Cephas Jones was cast as The Wizard, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Djimon Hounsou.

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Joker (2019)

>Martin Scorsese was approached to direct before Todd Phillips was hired.

>Leonardo DiCaprio was approached for Arthur Fleck before Joaquin Phoenix was cast.

>In early drafts, Arthur has scars from a failed attempt to carve a smile in his face as a child. When the police captures him, he uses a shard of glass to do it.

>In early drafts, Arthur recalls that Penny allowed her boyfriend to sexually abuse him in exchange for paying the rent for their apartment.

>In early drafts, Sophie befriends Arthur, which Arthur misconstructs as affection. When he breaks into her apartment and finds her having sex with her boyfriend, he humiliates her in front of her daughter at the park the following day, and later leaves her a note to watch the Murray Franklin show. Sophie watches horrified as Arthur murders Franklin.

>Frances McDormand was approached for Penny Fleck before Frances Conroy was cast.

>Alec Baldwin was approached for Thomas Wayne before Brett Cullen was cast.

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Birds of Prey (2020)

>WB approached Margot Robbie for a Harley Quinn spinoff, and she recommended including the Birds of Prey in the movie. Beforehand, WB was developing David Ayer’s GOTHAM CITY SIRENS, which would have featured Catwoman and Poison Ivy alongside Harley, but was scrapped due to Matt Reeves’ THE BATMAN; and Glenn Ficarra & John Requa’s JOKER VS. HARLEY, chronicling the couple’s vicious breakup, which was scrapped due to Jared Leto’s falling-out with WB over Todd Phillips’ JOKER.

>In early drafts, Batgirl would be a member of the Birds of Prey, but the character was unavailable due to Joss Whedon’s BATGIRL, which was in active development at the time. Kristen Stewart was WB’s top choice for the role.

>In early drafts, Katana would be sent to recapture Harley for the Suicide Squad and ultimately join the Birds of Prey.

>In early drafts, the Penguin would be the mobster that the Birds of Prey unite against, but the character was unavailable due to Matt Reeves’ THE BATMAN and replaced by Black Mask.

>In early drafts, Cassandra Cain would be a “living weapon” that Black Mask acquires and that the Birds of Prey set to rescue.

>In early cuts, the black diamond contained an USB drive with nude pictures of Black Mask, which he was hellbent in retrieving, but the twist received negative reactions at test-screenings and was changed in reshoots.

>Lady Gaga, Blake Lively, Vanessa Kirby, Jodie Comer, Janelle Monáe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw were approached for Black Canary before Jurnee Smollett-Bell was cast.

>Alexandra Daddario, Sofia Boutella, Margaret Qualley and Cristin Millioti were approached for Huntress before Mary Elizabeth Winstead was cast.

>Sam Rockwell and Sharlto Copley were approached for Black Mask before Ewan McGregor was cast.

>John Leguizamo was approached for Victor Zsasz before Chris Messina was cast.

>Peyton Elizabeth Lee and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons auditioned for Cassandra Cain before Ella Jay Basco was cast.

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Batman (1989)

>Ivan Reitman, Joe Dante, David Cronenberg and Alex Cox were approached to direct before Tim Burton was hired. Reitman wanted to make it a comedy starring Bill Murray as Batman, Michael J. Fox as Robin as Eddie Murphy as the Joker.

>Tom Mankiewicz wrote the first draft of the script, which featured Batman and Robin fighting against the Joker, who murdered Batman's parents on behalf of mobster Rupert Thorn. Mankiewicz's draft also featured Silver St. Cloud as Batman's love interest and the Penguin as a secondary villain. Burton disliked his ideas and called Sam Hamm to revise the script.

>Early drafts featured a love triangle between Bruce Wayne, Vicki Vale and Alexander Knox that was scrapped when further revisions made Knox into a comedic character. At one point, both Vale and Knox were supposed to be killed by the Joker.

>In early drafts, the Flying Graysons would've been killed during the Joker's parade, and young Dick Grayson helps Batman defeat the Joker, setting up his transformation into Robin.

>Warner Bros Pictures approached Mel Gibson and Pierce Brosnan for Batman, but they both declined due to scheduling conflicts. Kevin Costner, Harrison Ford, Dennis Quaid, Tom Selleck, Jeff Bridges, Charlie Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Kurt Russell, Willem Dafoe and Ray Liotta were also considered before Michael Keaton was cast.

>Brad Douriff, Tim Curry, David Bowie, Jon Lithgow and James Woods were considered for the Joker before Jack Nicholson was offered the role. He initally declined, but later reconsidered upon learning an offer had been made to Robin Williams.

>Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki Vale, but injured herself in a horseback riding accident prior to filming and was replaced by Kim Basinger.

>Steve Martin was approached for Alexander Knox before the role was rewritten and reduced, and Robert Wuhl was cast.

>Kiefer Sutherland was approached for Dick Grayson before the character was removed from the script.

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Batman Returns (1992)

>The first draft of the script, written by Sam Hamm, was a direct sequel to BATMAN and featured the return of Vicki Vale, but Burton disliked the concept and called Daniel Walters to pen a new draft that worked as a standalone movie.

>In early drafts, street-smart auto-mechanic Dick Grayson would help Batman repair the Batmobile after it is sabotaged by the Penguin, setting up his transformation into Robin, but the idea was scrapped because Waters disliked the character and Burton didn't want sequel hooks.

>In early drafts, Harvey Dent would sponsor the Penguin's mayoral campaign, and also be responsible for the attempted murder of Catwoman, who would later disfigure half of his face, setting up his transformation into Two-Face, but the idea was scrapped because Burton didn't want sequel hooks, and Dent was replaced by Max Shreck, who would initially be the Penguin's brother.

>Dustin Hoffman, Christopher Lloyd, Bob Hoskins and John Candy were considered for the Penguin before Danny De Vito was cast.

>Annette Benning was originally cast as Catwoman, but dropped out due to her pregnancy. Madonna, Cher, Bridget Fonda, Raquel Welch, Lorraine Bracco, Ellen Barkin, Jennifer Beals, Brooke Shields, Susan Sarandon, Jodie Foster, Geena Davis, Jennifer Jason Leight, Demi Moore and Nicole Kidman were considered for the role before Michelle Pfeiffer was cast. Pfeiffer had previously impressed Burton when she auditioned for Vicki Vale in BATMAN.

>Marlon Wayans was originally cast as Dick Grayson before the character was scrapped.

>Sean Young believed she was entitled to the role of Catwoman and began stalking Burton, even breaking into the Warner Bros loft in a homemade Catwoman costume and forcing Burton to hide in his office until security escorted her out.

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Batman Forever (1995)

>WB was disappointed by BATMAN RETURNS' box office and decided to make the franchise more family-friendly. Burton disagreed with their new creative direction and declined to return. Sam Raimi was approached to replace him before Joel Schumacher was hired.

>Michael Keaton declined to return after Burton's departure. Mel Gibson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Alec Baldwin, William Baldwin, Kurt Russell, Johnny Depp, Ralph Fiennes and Ethan Hawke were approached to replace him before Val Kilmer was cast.

>Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Toby Stephens and Scott Speedman auditioned for Robin before Chris O'Donnell was cast.

>Rene Russo was originally cast as Chase Meridian, but was replaced because producers felt she was too old for Kilmer. Linda Hamilton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Sandra Bullock and Robin Wright were considered before Nicole Kidman was cast.

>Robin Williams was approached for the Riddler, but declined, still bitter over being used as "bait" to lure Jack Nicholson into the role of the Joker, and Jim Carrey was cast.

>Schumacher decided not to invite Marlon Wayans and Billy Dee Williams, who were originally slated to play Robin and Two-Face, and tWB had to handsomely compensate them for the contract breach.

>Schumacher wanted to add Poison Ivy to the script, and originally envisioned Kidman to play her, but the studio argued against three villains in one movie, and Kidman was ultimately cast as Chase Meridian.

>Schumacher wanted to adapt Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One", but WB declined in favor of a sequel with an established Batman. Schumacher added several flashback sequences exploring Batman's past, but most of them were cut.

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BATMAN & ROBIN (1997)

>Val Kilmer dropped out of the movie due to his disagreements with Schumacher, and William Baldwin and David Duchovny were considered for Batman before George Clooney was cast.

>Olivia d'Abo was considered for Batgirl before Alicia Silverstone was cast.

>Patrick Stewart, Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris were considered for Mister Freeze before Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast. Schumacher disliked Freeze's comics characterization as a frail old man and believed he should be "chiseled like an ice sculpture".

>Mister Freeze weapong an armored suit was Schwarzenegger's idea to make the character more intimidating.

>Julia Roberts, Demi Moore and Sharon Stone were considered for Poison Ivy before Uma Thurman was cast.

>In early drafts, Bruce Wayne's girlfriend, Julie Madison, played by Elle McPherson, had a larger role, culminating with Poison Ivy fatally stabbing her. The idea was scrapped for being too dark for a kid-oriented movie, and most of Madison's scenes were cut in further rewrites.

>In early drafts, Poison Ivy seduces Robin in her supervillain persona while also trying to entice Bruce Wayne as Pamela Isley, and Bruce's discovery that they're one and the same is what convinces Robin that they're being manipulated by Ivy. The concept was scrapped in further rewrites.

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Catwoman (2004)

>Daniel Waters wrote the first draft of the script in 1993 as a spin-off from BATMAN RETURNS in which Selina Kyle relocates to an idyllic small town in Arizona and learns that the city's leaders are members of a cult and are planning to destroy the city in a mass sacrifice. Tim Burton was in talks to direct, with Michelle Pfeiffer set to return as Selina, but Waters' script was deemed too dark by WB, and the project was scrapped after BATMAN FOREVER became a box office hit.

>In 2001, the project was revived and the script was revised multiple times to make it a standalone movie, with Ashley Judd set to play Selina Kyle.

>In 2003, Further revisions reinvented the entire concept and replaced Selina Kyle with an original character, Patience Philips, to avoid conflicts with the BATMAN franchise, which was in development hell.

>Nicole Kidman was approached to play Patience before Halle Berry was cast.

>Josh Lucas was approached for Patience's love interest, Detective Tom Lone, before Benjamin Bratt was cast.

>Julie Newmar and Frances McDormand were approached for Patience's mentor, Ophelia Powers, before Frances Conroy was cast.

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>>Mark Wahlberg was approached for Green Lantern Hal Jordan before the character was cut.
Damn, dodged a bullet there.

Batman Begins (2005)

>Ashton Kutcher was WB's top choice to play Batman before Christopher Nolan was hired to direct the movie.

>In early drafts, Harvey Dent was Bruce Wayne's childhood friend who becomes an Assistant District Attorney who collaborates with Batman. When Rachel Dawes was added to the script, Dent was removed and Rachel was given his role.

>Henry Cavill, Cillian Murphy, Jake Gyllenhall, Hugh Dancy, Billy Crudup, Eion Bailey, David Boreanaz, Joshua Jackson and Heath Ledger auditioned for Batman. Jackson was reportedly Christopher Nolan's favored choice for the role, but WB rejected him as Katie Holmes had already been cast as Rachel and Jackson's casting would drawn unwanted attention to the fact they were both in DAWSON'S CREEK, which WB feared would undermine the movie's credibility. Ultimately, Christian Bale was cast.

>Amy Adams auditioned for Rachel before Katie Holmes was cast by WB's demand. Claire Danes and Reese Witherspoon were also considered for the role.

>Christopher Eccleston and Ewan McGregor were considered for the Scarecrow before Cillian Murphy was cast, having impressed Nolan with his audition for Batman.

>Gary Oldman was approached for Ra's Al Ghul, but preferred to play James Gordon. Guy Pearce was in talks for the role, but once Bale was cast, Nolan felt Pearce was too close to Bale's age to convincingly play a seasoned mentor, and Liam Neeson was then cast.

>Chris Cooper and Kurt Russell were approached for James Gordon, but declined, leading to Gary Oldman being cast.

>Anthony Hopkins was considered for Alfred Pennyworth before Michael Caine was cast.

>Laurence Fishburne was considered for Lucius Fox before Morgan Freeman was cast.

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The Dark Knight (2008)

>Harvey Dent's disfigurement would originally happen in the third act, and his transformation into Two-Face would occur in a potential sequel, but the concept was scrapped in favor of completing Dent's storyline in the movie.

>In early drafts, there's a subplot about Batman investigating Harvey Dent's background and learning that Dent's family was brutally murdered, which leads Batman to believe they are kindred spirits, but it was scrapped for being inconsequential.

>Early drafts featured Oswald Cobblebot as a Russian weapons dealer and one of the leaders of Gotham's organized crime, but he was ultimately replaced by the Chechen.

>Rachel McAdams was offered the role of Rachel Dawes after Katie Holmes dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, but declined. Isla Fisher and Emily Blunt also auditioned for Maggie Gyllenhall was cast.

>Hugh Jackman was offered the role of Harvey Dent, but couldn't commit due to scheduling conflicts. Jude Law, Josh Lucas, Liev Schreiber and Mark Ruffalo were also considered before Aaron Eckhart was cast.

>Paul Bettany, Guy Pearce, Adrien Brody, Sean Penn, Hugo Weaving, Johnny Depp, Vincent Cassel, Crispin Glover and Lachy Hulme auditioned for the role of the Joker before Heath Ledger was cast. Bettany was reportedly WB's choice for the role and Nolan's backup should Ledger be unavailable.

>Philip Seymour Hoffman was linked to the role of Oswald Cobbleplot before the character was scrapped.

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The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

>Heath Ledger was expected to return as Joker before his death.

>WB wanted the Riddler as the main villain, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, but director Christopher Nolan believed he was too similar to the Joker.

>Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan wrote the first draft of the script, which was 400 pages long and had to be severely condensed in order to fit into one movie. Most cuts were done to the second act, with Bruce Wayne trapped in the Pit and Gotham City under siege from Bane.

>In early drafts, several minor characters had larger roles that were reduced in further revisions, including Barsad, Bane's right-hand man; Jen, Selina Kyle's friend and accomplice; Ross, John Blake's partner; and Jones, the leader of the Special Forces team deployed to Gotham.

>In early drafts, Captain Peter Foley is killed by Talia after being run over by a Tumbler. The scene was filmed, but deemed too violent for the studio, and reworked so Foley is fatally shot during the final battle.

>Rachel Weisz was considered for Talia Al Ghul before Marion Cottilard was cast.

>Ryan Gosling was considered for John Blake before Joseph Gordon-Levitt was cast.

>Zoe Kravitz was considered for Jen before Juno Temple was cast.

>Adam Rodriguez was considered for Jones before Daniel Sunjata was cast.

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Superman: The Movie (1978)

>Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Sam Peckinpah, William Friedkin, John Guillermin, Peter Yates, Ronald Neame, Robert Aldrich, Norman Jewison, Mark Robson and Richard Lester were approached to direct the movie before Guy Hamilton was hired. He dropped out shortly afterwards and was replaced by Richard Donner.

>Producers Ilya Salkind, Alexander Salkind and Pierre Spengler planned for SUPERMAN and SUPERMAN II to be filmed back-to-back. Mario Puzo wrote a borderline unfilmmable 550 pages script with an overtly campy tone, which Donner disliked. Tom Mankiewicz rewrote the entire script at Donner's behest, but was denied credit by the Writers Guild of America. Donner then credited him as a creative consultant so his contribution would be recognized.

>Puzo's draft featured Clark Kent and Lois Lane as television reporters; two addition evil Kryptonian, mad scientist Jax-Ur and psychotic prankster Jak-El; an additional bumbling sidekick to Lex Luthor named "Albert", who'd be Otis' brother; and a cameo appearance by Kojak, played by Telly Savalas, meeting Lex Luthor at a subway station and offering him a lollipop.

>Donner partially shot SUPERMAN II before convincing Spengler and the Salkinds to focus on completing SUPERMAN, since a cliffhanger ending wouldn't accomplish anything without a succesful first movie.

>In early drafts, Superman would divert Lex Luthor's nuclear missile to space, where it would accidentally free General Zod, Ursa and Non from the Phantom Zone and lead them to Earth. When Donner persuaded the producers to let him complete SUPERMAN as a standalone movie, he used the concept of Superman turning back time and changing the past, originally slated for SUPERMAN II, to give the movie a proper ending.

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>Donner notoriously clashed with Spengler and the Salkinds throughout production, to the point they refused to speak to eachother. The Salkinds appointed Lester as a second unit director anticipating that he could take over production should Donner drop out. Lester had previously sued the Salkinds over unpaid dues in a previous collaboration and allegedly only agreed to the job due to the salary they offered.

>The producers were determined that Superman be played by an A-lister. Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Burt Reynolds, James Caan, Charles Bronson and Muhammad Ali were approached for the role, but declined.

>Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Jenner, Neil Diamond, Perry King, Lyle Waggoner, Robert Wagner, John Beck, David Soul, Jan-Michael Vincent, James Brolin, Sam Elliott, Christopher Walken, Nick Nolte, Jon Voight, Jeff Bridges, Kris Kristofferson and David Prowse auditioned for the role before Patrick Wayne was cast. However, he dropped out when his father, John Wayne, was diagnosed with cancer. Donner ultimately persuaded the producers to cast a young unknown, and ultimately selected Christopher Reeve, who had previously been denied an audition for allegedly being "too scrawny".

>Anne Archer, Stockard Channing, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Leslie Ann Warren, Susan Blakely, Deborah Raffin, April Byron, Christina Raines, Barbra Streisand, Natalie Wood, Carrie Fisher and Liza Minelli were approached for Lois Lane before Margot Kidder was cast.

>Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, Gene Wilder and George Kennedy were approached for Lex Luthor before Gene Hackman was cast.

>Paul Newman and Charlton Heston were approached for Jor-El before Marlon Brando was cast.

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Superman II: The Adventure Continues (1980)

>Spengler and the Salkinds decided to complete SUPERMAN II after SUPERMAN became a box office hit, but fired Donner due to their previous disagreements and replaced by Lester. Gene Hackman objected to the producers' treatment of Donner and refused to return for the sequel, forcing them to write the script around the footage he had already shot under Donner's direction. Lester was also required to reshoot numerous scenes that had already been completed by Donner in order to be properly credited as the sole director.

>Marlon Brando was slated to return as Jor-El, but felt cheated out of the movie's box office earnings and filed a lawsuit against the Salkinds, which led to Jor-El being replaced by Superman's mother, Lara Lor-Van, played by Susannah York.

>David Newman and Leslie Newman, who had previously contributed to the script of SUPERMAN, redrafted SUPERMAN II, adding the prologue with the hostage crisis at Eiffel Tower, the epilogue with the memory-wiping kiss and reworking numerous scenes based on Donner's version.

>Caroline Munro was approached for Ursa before Sarah Douglas was cast.

>David Prowse auditioned for Non before Jack O'Halloran was cast.

>An alternative ending where Zod, Ursa and Non are arrested by the Arctic Police after being depowered by Superman was shot, but never used in neither Lester's cut nor Donner's cut.

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Superman III (1983)

>Guy Hamilton was approached to direct the movie before Richard Lester was persuaded to return.

>Ilya Salkind wrote a treatment in which Superman falls in love with Supergirl, another survivor of planet Krypton, as they join forces to battle Brainiac, a mad scientist from planet Colu and Supergirl's adoptive father, who has fallen in love with her; and Mr. Mxyzptlk, a mischievous imp from the Fifth Dimension, but the studio didn't like the concept and called David Newman and Leslie Newman to write a new script.

>In early drafts, Lex Luthor was the main villain and would create a supercomputer known as "Brainiac" as part of a masterplan to take over the world, only for Brainiac to become sentient and resolve to destroy it instead. When Hackman once again refused to return due to his grievances with the Salkinds, Luthor was replaced by a facsimile, Ross Webster, played by Robert Vaughn.

>Margot Kidder also openly supported Donner in his feud with the Salkinds, and as a result Lois Lane was reduced to a minor appearance and Lana Lang was introduced as Superman's main love interest, played by Annette O'Toole.

>Richard Pryor's character, hacker Gus Gorman, was added to the script due to Pryor's five picture contract with Warner Bros Pictures, and led to the movie being retooled as comedy-oriented and the Brainiac subplot being downplayed to the point where the character was never even named in the movie.

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Supergirl (1984)

>The Salkinds greenlit the movie after SUPERMAN III flopped in order to revitalize the franchise.

>Richard Lester and Robert Wise were approached to direct the movie before Jeannot Szwarc was hired.

>Several actresses auditioned for Supergirl, including Melanie Griffiths, Demi Moore and Brooke Shields. Alexander Salkind favored Shields, but both Ilya Salkind and Szwarc wanted an unknown actress in the same vein as Christopher Reeve and cast Helen Slater.

>Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Goldie Hawn were approached to play the sorceress Selene before Faye Dunaway was cast.

>John Travolta was approached to play Supergirl's love interest Ethan before Hart Bochner was cast.

>Demi Moore also auditioned for Supergirl's friend Lucy Lane before Maureen Teefy was cast.

>Dudley Moore was approached to play Supergirl's mentor Zaltar before Peter O'Toole was cast.

>Superman was featured in the original script, in which he is kidnapped by Selene and Supergirl must rescue him. Christopher Reeve was slated to appear in the movie and even recommended Szwarc as the director, but dropped out in the last moment, leading to last-minutes rewrites to remove the character from the story.

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Damn I wish I could read

Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)

>After SUPERMAN III and SUPERGIRL flopped at the box office, the Salkinds sold the rights to Cannon Pictures.

>Wes Craven and Albert Pyun were approached to direct the movie before Sidney J. Furie was hired.

>Christopher Reeve had initially declined to return, but agreed in exchange for financing for his next movie and the opportunity to co-write the script. He notoriously clashed with Furie throughout production.

>Margot Kidder and Gene Hackman were persuaded to return due to Salkinds no longer being involved, though both of them as well as Reeve later recognized that the movie was awful and damaging to their careers.

>Reeve was originally approached to play the Nuclear Man as well, but the idea was scrapped for being too expensive.

>Cannon Pictures slashed the movie's budget from $36 million to $17 million, preventing several scenes from being completed and reducing the movie's running time from 135 minutes to 90 minutes. A subplot about the first Nuclear Man, played by Clive Mantle, who is defeated by Superman after wreaking havoc in a nightclub, was also deleted after poor reception at test screenings.

>Cannon Pictures considered using the unfinished footage as the basis for a fifth movie, but their plans were scrapped due to Christopher Reeve's horseback accident. The plot would've featured Superman becoming trapped in the Bottled City of Kandor.

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Superman Returns (2006)

>The project went through multiple iterations over the years, most notably 1997's SUPERMAN LIVES, 2002's BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN and 2004's SUPERMAN: FLYBY.

>Tim Burton, Wolfgang Petersen, Brett Ratner, McG, Michael Bay, Martin Campbell, M. Night Shyamalan and J.J. Abrams were approached to direct the movie before Bryan Singer was hired and convinced WB to produce a spiritual sequel to the Donner movies rather than a complete reboot.

>Henry Cavill, Matt Bomer, Josh Hartnett, Paul Walker, Brendan Fraser, Jerry O'Connell, David Boreanaz, Ashton Kutcher, Ian Somerhalder, Jared Padelecki, Victor Webster, Jason Behr, Daniel Cudmore and Hayden Christensen were either approached or auditioned for Superman before Brandon Routh was cast.

>Amy Adams, Claire Danes, Keri Russell, Mischa Barton and Elisha Cutberth auditioned for Lois Lane before Kate Bosworth was cast.

>Shawn Ashmore, Topher Grace and Eric Christian Olsen were approached for Jimmy Olsen before Sam Huntington was cast.

>Hugh Laurie was cast as Perry White, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Frank Langella.

>Hugh Jackman was in talks to play Jonathan Kent in an extended flashback sequence, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

>Early drafts featured Steve Lombard as a abrasive new reporter who antagonizes Clark Kent when he returns to the Daily Planet. Barry Pepper was linked to the role before the character was cut for being superfluous to the narrative.

>Early drafts featured Lex Luthor freeing General Zod from the Phantom Zone to enact revenge on Superman. Jude Law was offered the role, but declined, after which Singer decided to write the character out of the movie.

>Early drafts featured a larger role for Kal Penn's Stanford, who is revealed to be a disgraced science reporter for the Daily Planet who is bribed by Lex Luthor into forging evidence of Krypton's survival to lure Superman away from Earth.

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Green Lantern (2011)

>Greg Berlanti was slated to direct the movie, but dropped out and was replaced by Martin Campbell.

>Early drafts featured Legion as the main villain, a monster born from experiments conducted by the Guardians of the Universe with the Yellow Light of Fear. He was replaced by Parallax to set up sequels.

>Early drafts featured Alan Scott as a government operative and former Green Lantern who assists Hal Jordan. He was replaced by Amanda Waller to set up a DC Cinematic Universe.

>Ryan Gosling, Chris Pine, Jared Leto, Justin Timberlake, Jake Gyllenhall, Michael Fassbender and Bradley Cooper were approached for Hal Jordan before Ryan Reynolds was cast.

>Rose Byrne, Eva Green, Keri Russell, Jennifer Garner and Diane Kruger were approached for Carol Ferris before Blake Lively was cast.

>Hugo Weaving and Jackie Earle Haley were approached for Thaal Sinestro before Mark Strong was cast.

>Reynolds notoriously clashed with Campbell, who favored Bradley Cooper for the role and was unhappy when WB cast Reynolds instead, and often criticized Reynolds' performance and demanded extensive retakes.

>The movie went severely overbudget, requiring emergency rewrites to scale down the scope and several CGI-heavy scenes to be deleted as it would be impossible to complete them, notably an extensive training sequence on planet Oa and Sinestro, Tomar-Re and Kilowog arriving to help Jordan battle Parallax in the third act.

>The stinger with Sinestro stealing the yellow power ring was a last-minute addition to drum up interest in a potential sequel, which had already been greenlit, and was subsequently scrapped.

>The movie was expected to succesfully launch a DC Cinematic Universe, with Green Lantern functioning as WB's Iron Man, but plans were scrapped after the movie was a massive box office flop.

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>The movie was pitched as a direct sequel to MAN OF STEEL featuring Lex Luthor and Metallo before Snyder and WB decided to include Batman.

Marvel made them fucking flinch!

Still funny that Civil War went H2H with BvS, having the same release date and both companies stating publicly they wouldn't back down till DC choked and moved like some bitches. They never recovered from that... yet.

So in the Snyderverse, Superman was evil for Part I, Part II, AND Part III???

Not gonna lie, I would have enjoyed that. But the rest of the world wouldn't. What the fuck was Snyder thinking? No wonder they kicked him off the project.

WHAT A FUCKING DISASTER

Hope "The Batman" is worth it

>>Greg Berlanti was slated to direct the movie, but dropped out and was replaced by Martin Campbell.

literal who drops out and is replaced by high profile action director?

>WB demands Katie Holmes
>So much so that their first choice for Bruce, her ex bf Joshua Jackson, isn't cast
>Katie drops out of the sequel

Cunt.

Paul Walker would have been perfect for Tommy/HUSH too. Katie deserves to be ugly now.

It was the other way, the writers of civil war stated that Kein Feige overruled their captain america 3 treatment after BvS was anounced.