Superman is a tricky role to cast. The actor has to be able to play Clark Kent as a down-to-earth farm boy who is confused about his past and also play the Man of Steel as an all-American symbol of heroism. So far, the actors who have been chosen – from Christopher Reeve to Brandon Routh to Henry Cavill – have all done a terrific job of balancing these elements of the character.
But finding them wasn’t easy. When the search for a new Kal-El begins, nearly every actor in Hollywood tries out for the part. So, here are 10 actors who were almost cast as Superman.
Matt Bomer
Before Henry Cavill landed the role of Superman in Man of Steel, the producers’ top choice was Matt Bomer. The actor had previously voiced Supes in the animated movie Superman: Unbound and went on to play Negative Man in the Titansverse series Doom Patrol.
Zac Efron, Armie Hammer, and Matthew Goode were all considered for the role before Cavill was chosen.
Will Smith
During pre-production on Superman Returns, the title role was offered to Will Smith and Josh Hartnett. However, having played a traditionally Caucasian character in Wild Wild West, Smith was hesitant to do it again.
Hartnett turned it down because he feared being typecast as the last son of Krypton. So, the role went to the producers’ next choice, Brandon Routh.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
When Richard Donner’s initial 1978 as was his old rival, Sylvester Stallone.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid co-stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford were both under consideration. Plus, ‘70s action stars Burt Reynolds, Charles Bronson, and Clint Eastwood were all considered.
Christian Bale
Long before Zack Snyder pitted Batman against Superman, a movie with the title Batman v Superman was in development under the direction of McG.
McG ended up dropping out to helm Charlie’s Angles: Full Throttle and the whole thing got called off, but when it was a go, McG wanted to cast Christian Bale – who he’d go on to direct to some shouty notoriety in Terminator: Salvation – in the role of Clark Kent. This was a few years before Bale would play Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins.
D.J. Cotrona
Years before the DC Extended Universe would team up the Justice League on the big screen for the first time, Mad Max’s George Miller was developing a movie called Justice League: Mortal. Miller wanted to cast D.J. Cotrona from G.I. Joe: Retaliation and From Dusk till Dawn: The Series as Superman.
He also wanted to cast Armie Hammer as Batman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Adam Brody as the Flash, Common as Green Lantern, Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman, and Hugh Keays-Byrne as the Martian Manhunter.
Glenn Howerton
A ton of different actors auditioned for the role of Clark Kent when Superman Returns was first in development. These actors included Paul Walker, Ashton Kutcher, Ian Somerhalder, Brendan Fraser, and David Boreanaz.
Surprisingly, the list also includes Glenn Howerton, who would go on to gain iconic status in the role of sociopathic bartender Dennis Reynolds in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Joe Manganiello
When Zack Snyder first started working on Man of Steel, his bleak reworking of the Superman legend, he discussed the role with Joe Manganiello. However, due to Manganiello’s commitments to shooting True Blood, he couldn’t accept the part.
Years later, Manganiello would be cast to play Deathstroke in the DC Extended Universe. Unfortunately, as it stands, he’s only gotten to appear in Justice League’s post-credits scene.
Henry Cavill (In Superman Returns)
Obviously, Henry Cavill did end up being cast as Superman when Zack Snyder chose him to star in Man of Steel. But he was up for the part years earlier when Superman Returns was in development.
This was also around the time that Cavill was on the shortlist for the role of Bond before Daniel Craig clinched the role. It must’ve been a pretty disappointing year to be Henry Cavill.
Muhammad Ali
The more outlandish choices for the role of Superman in Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie included Jon Voight, his Midnight Cowboy co-star Dustin Hoffman (who was also under consideration for Lex Luthor), and boxing legend Muhammad Ali.
In 1978, when the movie was released, a comic book entitled “Superman vs. Muhammad Ali” was published in which Supes teamed up with Ali to fend off an alien invasion.
Nicolas Cage
Easily the most famous unmade Superman movie – and maybe the most famous unmade movie, period – is Superman Lives, which was set to be directed by Tim Burton and scripted by Kevin Smith. Nicolas Cage was cast as the Man of Steel, and had even done costume tests, which can be seen in the documentary The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?.
Cage is a lifelong comic book fan who once owned a copy of Action Comics No. 1, which featured the first ever appearance of Superman, that sold for $2.1 million.
