Nowadays, superhero flicks can be a real gold mine, especially if the viewers accept you as that particular character. You hear all the time that some actor tweeted something about “wanting to play” this or that hero on big screen, but that’s like me saying “I wouldn’t mind earning millions”. Basically, those tweets mean nothing… Until they do! Remember the whole “Cumberbatch for Strange” twitter campaign?
Hopefully some of the following actors get their hand stuck inside that sweet, delicious comic book honey pot for as long as they can (looking at you, Nathan Fillion). So, without further ado, let’s check out these 9 actors who really wanted to play superheroes!
1. Donald Glover as Spider-Man
If you’re at least somewhat familiar with the recent-ish Spider-Man comics, you know there’s a universe where Peter Parker died, and Miles Morales took his place. Oh yeah, Miles is a black Hispanic, so you can’t dance around this one too much. So, Don Glover went viral with his pitch #donald4spiderman hashtag. Sadly, popularity doesn’t always get you far, so no live action movie for Don. However, there are two great outcomes from all this ruckus:
A) He did get to voice Miles Morales in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon.
B) In the MCU’s “Spider-Man Homecoming” he played Aaron Davis – Miles Morales’ uncle.
By now he’s too old to play a 14 year old, so there’s that.
2. Keanu Reeves as Wolverine or Batman
After becoming an action movie icon, Reeves definitely showed us he would be a great super hero. And he did! Remember that weird movie Constantine? Yeah, that’s DC comics, baby. However, if he were to choose his poison, Reeves would prefer to play Wolverine or Batman. Thankfully, because he didn’t get those roles, we were blessed with “John Wick”, and I’m totally okay with that.
3. Jaden Smith as Static Shock
Jaden, Jaden, Jaden… Don’t you think you’ve ruined enough movies with your “acting”? Turns out this guy wants to play Static Shock! And yeah, they both are black and have similar hair, but Jaden simply can’t act, people. Hopefully the people at DC films dept. will not let that happen. So far it’s just his Twitter talking, but who knows… Who knows.
4. Danny Trejo as The Main Man Lobo
Who’s Lobo? Okay, imagine the most brutal Wolverine, multiply that by 2, add some space origins, a space bike, and a hook chain. Basically, he’s one of the best antiheroes in DC. Hollywood’s been tinkering with Lobo scripts for years now but nothing’s been finalized. And I’m afraid that with the (mental) flop of the Justice League, we won’t see him any time soon. But then there’s Danny Trejo, who’d make a perfect Main Man, tweeted at DC the greatest art of himself as Lobo. Hint-hint, DC!
5. Nicolas Cage as Superman
You know, when you name your own son Kal-El (as in Superman’s Kryptonian name), people will start to question your sanity. But then again, if your name is Nicolas Cage, they’ll understand. So yeah, Cage is a huge Super buff, and was even cast as him at one point. The movie was being directed by Tim Burton, with Cage as Superman… You can clearly see it had zero chance of being developed further. After running the test footage the project was dumped almost immediately.
6. Daniel Radcliffe as Robin
After his long and fruitful career as Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe’s acting gigs went a little bit downhill. He tried, and the movies were decent, but it’s just not what we wanted to see. He stated that if the DC were to reboot their universe again, he’d be totally up for the role of Batman’s sidekick – Robin. But it’s been a while and Affleck’s allegedly retiring from playing Batman after the “Flash” movie, so this probably won’t happen, but there’s still chance he’ll be Night wing or Red Hood!
7. Nathan Fillion as Booster Gold
On the surface, Booster Gold is a very egotistical hero from the future, but underneath all that there’s a lot of things going on. No spoilers, go pick up some Booster Gold comics. But, anyway, Nathan Fillion would have been perfect for this role! He’s got that jaw line, and the hair, not to mention his charisma. Whenever Hollywood decides to make a Booster Gold movie, please contact Mr. Fillion. That’s It! End of Discussion!
8. Terry Crews as Silver Surfer
Don’t get me wrong, Terry Crews is an amazing person, and a brilliant actor, but I cannot, for the life of me, picture him surfing cosmic waves, looking all silver-y. He did say that Silver Surfer was one of his most favorite heroes, and that he’d love to play him. And, hey, maybe after the big Disney-FOX merger (tomorrow) we’ll see Terry as Silver Surfer. Life’s weird like that sometimes.
