Superhero movies are clearly the biggest kinds of movies around at this particular point in cinematic history. In 2019 alone, the highest grossing film of the year – and in fact the highest grossing film of all time – wasAvengers: Endgame, the culmination of years of superhero movies released by Marvel Studios. And in 2018, six of the top 10 highest grossing films of the year were superhero movies, ranging fromAquamantoVenomtoDeadpool 2.
Hollywood adapting comics into blockbuster movies is nothing new, but for every successful comic book adaptation, there’s usually a history of false starts and scrapped storylines that litter the road to eventual release. So it seemed like an interesting idea to look back on some of the biggest superhero movies that were planned, some that were even written, and some that were months away from filming only for it all to come crashing down. The films on this list range from earlier versions of eventually successful films (likeJames Cameron’sSpider-Man) to full-on movies that were just never made (likeGeorge Miller’sJustice League: Mortal).
Below, I run down the history of these projects, what they were about, and why they ultimately fell apart, while also pointing out which successful movies some of them eventually became.
So without further ado, let’s get to it. These are the biggest superhero movies that never happened.
James Cameron’s ‘Spider-Man’
Years beforeTobey MaguireandSam Raimirocked the box office with 2002’s colorful and trend-settingSpider-Man, many, many,manypeople had tried to get aSpider-Manmovie off the ground. One of the most notable filmmakers to take a crack at the webslinger wasJames Cameron, who handed in a script in 1993 while he was still filming the thrillerTrue Lies. TheAliensandTerminator 2filmmaker intended to directSpider-Man, which put a somewhat adult and action-heavy spin on the beloved comics character. The villains were Electro and Sandman, but Cameron reconceived their origin stories and how they fit into the story — the film’s Electro was a Donald Trump-esque businessman with full control over electricity who keeps trying to recruit Spider-Man to his criminal organization. The script also contained profanity and a full-on sex scene between Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, to whom Peter reveals his Spider-Man identity at the end of the film.
Legal troubles relating to who owned theSpider-Manrights ensnared Cameron’s project post-True Liesand he moved on to makeTitanicwhile the rights toSpider-Manwere eventually licensed to Colombia Pictures, which formally acquired Cameron’s scriptment but opted not to bring Cameron aboard as writer or director. In 1999, the studio announced a new writer (David Koepp) taking over the project. That would eventually turn into the Sam Raimi movie we know and love today, even keeping a few ideas from Cameron’s work on adapting Spider-Man (including the organic webshooters), but the Oscar-winningTitanicfilmmaker never got a chance to fully realize his somewhat radical take on the material. Hopefully he can find some sort of consolation in the nearly $3 billion in box office receipts earned by his original sci-fi blockbuster,Avatar.
Raimi’sSpider-Man, meanwhile, broke the box office record for an opening weekend and spawned two sequels – both commercially successful, butSpider-Man 3took a bit of a critical drubbing. As we now know, the franchise was rebooted twice more and is now in the creative hands of Marvel Studios while Sony continues to license the character and release the films.
George Miller’s ‘Justice League Mortal’
Before The Snyder Cut there wasGeorge Miller’sJustice League Mortal. Indeed, a few years beforeChristopher NolanandZack Snyderteamed up to reboot Superman, Warner Bros. was looking at kicking off a new slate of DC superhero movies with aJustice Leaguemovie first, courtesy of iconicMad Max: Fury Roadfilmmaker George Miller. The project gained a lot of steam in 2007, after the success ofBatman Beginsbut beforeThe Dark Knightwould change everything. Miller castArmie Hammeras Batman,Adam Brodyas The Flash,DJ Cotronaas Superman,Megan Galeas Wonder Woman andJay Baruchelas the film’s villain Maxwell Lord (who was played byPedro Pascalin the recent sequelWonder Woman 1984).
The story would have found Maxwell Lorddying halfway through the movieand uploading his consciousness into a computer, providing a formidable foe for the young Justice League to tackle. It would all build to a finale with real stakes, as Brody’s The Flash would die tragically. The cast assembled in Australia, costumes were fitted, and rehearsals were underway, but a combination of budget concerns and the writers strike put a halt to pre-production in November 2007, and the film sadly never recovered. Miller hoped to resume filming in 2008, but when Australia denied the film a significant tax rebate, Warner Bros. looked to move production to Vancouver. By November 2008, WB was basking in the commercial and critical success ofThe Dark Knightand was mounting an Oscar campaign, and thus was touting development of individual DC comics adaptations vs. this team-up idea. Alas,Justice League: Mortalwaseffectively cancelled.
Miller went on to makeMad Max: Fury Road, which offers a taste of what kind of action and superheroics we might have seen in his take onJustice League. As for the DC team-up, well, Warner Bros. did eventually make aJustice Leaguemovie, but it had its own share of troubles as the studio tried to creatively change course in the middle of production andJoss Whedontook over during reshoots. When it was released – the first-ever live-actionJustice Leaguemovie – the film was greeted with a ho-hum response from audiences and critics alike.
Tim Burton’s ‘Superman Lives’
In the wake of the failure of 1987’sSuperman IV: The Quest for Peace, Warner Bros. spent years trying to get a newSupermanmovie off the ground. Various reboots and even sequels were considered, but the biggest to gain traction wasTim Burton’sSuperman Lives. Burton had already proved to be a DC Comics success for WB with his 1989 filmBatmanand its superior sequelBatman Returns, and he signed onto the project in 1997. At this time, the film had an existing script byKevin Smith, but Burtonwanted to make it his ownso he brought inWesley Strick(who performed rewrites onBatman Returns) to rework the screenplay.
Nicolas Cagesigned on to play Superman in a story that would adapt the “Death of Superman” comics arc, withKevin Spaceyplaying Lex Luthor,Chris Rockconsidered for Jimmy Olson,Jack Nicholsonin the mix for Brainiac, andSandra BullockandCourteney Coxmaking the shortlist for Lois Lane.
Preparations got underway to shootSuperman Livesin Pittsburgh in 1998, but following the disappointments of costly sci-fi movies likeSphereand the cancellation of the TV seriesLois & Clark, Warner Bros. got cold feet – especially considering the rising budget. Development continued withDan Gilroy(Nightcrawler) being brought into rework the script, but Burton and Cage eventually moved on andSuperman Lives, well, died.
WB finally got their Superman reboot off the ground in 2006 withSuperman Returns, but that movie also failed to reignite fan passion for the DC Comics character. It wasn’t until 2013’sMan of Steelthat Warner Bros. successfully launched a new franchise.
Burton immediately moved on toSleepy Hollow, one of his best films, and then scratched his blockbuster itch with 2001’sPlanet of the Apes, one of his worst. But for a deeper dive into the lore behindSuperman LivesI highly suggest checking out the lateJon Schnepp’s documentaryThe Death of Superman Lives: What Happened?.
Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Batman: Year One’
After the release ofBatman & Robinin 1997, which was a critical dud and the lowest-grossingBatmanmovie of the modern era, Warner Bros. decided to try to revitalize the property with a reboot. They began by simultaneously developing two differentBatmanmovies – a live-action adaptation of the animated seriesBatman Beyondand a gritty adaptation ofFrank Miller’s origin storyBatman: Year One. Pretty quickly, Warner Bros. favored going theYear Oneroute and hiredDarren Aronofskyto direct and co-write alongside Miller. At this point, Aronofsky had only madePiandRequiem for a Dreambut had announced himself as a visionary filmmaker to watch, and his hiring on the project was met with widespread positivity.
Aronofsky envisioned a pretty radical departure from the earlierBatmanmovies – a gritty reboot with realistic violence and an R-rating. The filmmakerhoped to castJoaquin Phoenixin the lead role, whilethe studio was leaning towardssomeone a bit more “hunky” likeFreddie Prinze Jr.This difference in opinion grew wider as the script developed, with Warner Bros. eventually deciding it didn’t want to gothisdark for its next iteration of Batman. And in 2002, the studio decided to drop Aronofsky’sBatman: Year Onealtogether in favor of makingWolfgang Peterson’sBatman vs. Superman(more on that in a minute). That film also never got made, but Warner Bros. did eventually find a happy middle ground for a “gritty reboot” of Batman in the form ofChristopher Nolan’s 2005 filmBatman Begins, which brings Batman into the real world in a grounded way but isn’t explicitly violent.
Aronofsky, meanwhile, moved on to developing a number of films that didn’t get made, including an adaptation ofWatchmen, before eventually gettingThe Fountainto the finish line as his next film.
Wolfgang Peterson’s ‘Batman vs. Superman’
BeforeZack Snyder’s epic, gritty, and epically grittyBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, there was supposed to be anotherBatman vs. Supermanmovie. This one was pitched to Warner Bros. all the way back in 2001 bySe7enscreenwriterAndrew Kevin Walker, andAir Force OnedirectorWolfgang Peterson(who was at the time circling a Superman reboot) signed on to take the helm.
The story forBatman vs. Supermanwas pretty dark. It took place five years after Batman had retired and the film opened with Alfred’s funeral, while Clark Kent was now divorced from Lois Lane. After Batman’s wife is killed by The Joker, he dons the Batsuit once more and seeks revenge, with Clark/Superman trying to stop him.
Colin Farrellwas in line to play Batman whileJude Lawwas going to play Superman, but the studio became uncomfortable with the darkness of the script and eventually decided to focus their efforts on a standalone Batman movie instead, which would becomeBatman Begins. Peterson, meanwhile, refocused his efforts and teamed withBrad Pitton the 2004 war epicTroy.
But you may still see a poster forBatman vs. Supermanin the 2007 filmI Am Legendas a nod to this unrealized project.
Superman Flyby
After two failed attempts at bringing Superman back to the screen withSuperman LivesandBatman vs. Superman, Warner Bros. took a chance on a young writer namedJ.J. Abramswithan idea for a Superman origin story. The resulting script was calledSuperman: Flyby, with Abrams signing on to write it in February 2002 for directorMcG.
Superman: Flybywas written as the first in a trilogy of films, and would have found Superman squaring off against Ty-Zor and three other Kryptonians – and losing. After his death, however, he’s resurrected, only to find that Lex Luthor (who in this iteration is a CIA agent obsessed with UFOs) has become president. In the film’s final moments, Luthor reveals that he’s actually a Kryptonian, and Superman sets off to his home planet to investigate, setting up the next movie.
It should be noted thatSuperman: Flybywas in development at the same time asBatman vs. Superman, and Warner Bros. decided to focus their energy on thisSupermanorigin story instead. But as development and casting continued, McG fell out of and then returned to the director’s chair, signingRobert Downey Jr.to play Lex Luthor as the search for their Superman continued. But the project hit another hiccup when McG’s fear of flying forced him to vacate the director’s chair as Warner Bros. wanted to shoot in Australia for tax reasons. In their hunt for a new director, they landed onBryan Singerwho at the time was fresh off the successful superhero moviesX-MenandX2. But when Singer signed on, he wanted to start from scratch and threw out Abrams’ script. Thus,Superman Returnswas born.
Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man 4’
It’s easy to forget now just how big of a dealSam Raimi’s 2002 filmSpider-Manwas, but it washugedeal. The comic book adaptation broke the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend box office ever, and its marriage of a colorful and fun-loving attitude with human and grounded stakes for the characters finally cracked the “comic book adaptation” code that Hollywood had been trying to nail for the past decade or so.
Raimi’s film spawned two sequels, but in 2007 as Raimi was readying the release ofSpider-Man 3, he was actually working on aSpider-Man 4that never came to fruition.Spider-Man 3received criticism for being overstuffed and convoluted, and Raimi didn’t entirely disagree. He was pressured into including the villain Venom inSpider-Man 3, and now hoped to “course-correct” the franchise with aSpider-Man 4. But that also meant he went into the next sequel with less eagerness to compromise, on account of howSpider-Man 3turned out.
Tobey MaguireandKirsten Dunstwere set to return, and Raimi was intent on finally bringing the villain Vulture to the screen (who he tried to include inSpider-Man 3but was overruled).John Malkovichsigned on to play the character, andAnne Hathawaywas also in the mix to play Felicia Hardy who, in this film, would become the villain Vulturess.
But cracking the story was easier said than done, and as Raimi was still displeased with the script with a deadline looming, he and Sony Pictures agreed to part ways andSpider-Man 4was cancelled. As it turns out, Sony had been concurrently developing a reboot, so the studio quickly greenlitThe Amazing Spider-Manand found their new Spider-Man inAndrew Garfield. Raimistill regrets not being able to “end on a high note,”but what he accomplished withSpider-ManandSpider-Man 2remains impressive and genre-defining.
And now he’s finally returning to the superhero genre as the director of Marvel’sDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
And so that’s that, and yet this is far from a comprehensive list — there are stillcountless other superhero moviesthat never got off the ground for one reason or another.
