Kevin Smith reveals the stars he and WB wanted for his Arrowverse creator Greg Berlanti was developing a new Strange Adventures anthology series for HBO Max, based on DC's sci-fi comic series of the same name. Plot details for the show were never specified, although reports indicated that the series would feature hour-long episodes comprising characters from across the DC canon, chronicling "cautionary tales" about the downside of having superpowers. Smith and Eric Carrasco were attached to write the scripts, although a release window was not allotted.

In August 2022, after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, Smith announced that the studio has canceled Strange Adventures, shortly after scrapping the nearly complete Batgirl movie. Smith was disappointed about the show being shelved, and while discussing his plan for the series, he revealed that it contained an episode centered on the DC characters Perry White and Jimmy Olsen. He explained that the Strange Adventures episode would have seen the two characters being taken by the DC villain Bizzaro, an unassuming Superman wannabe who devolves and takes the duo away to the Bizzaro world. Now, Smith has offered some additional details about his idea.

Related: Every Marvel & DC Character Nicolas Cage Almost Played

During the Fatman Beyond podcast (via CBR), Smith reveals he wanted Nicolas Cage to play Bizzaro in that particular Strange Adventures episode, with future Blue Beetle star Xolo Maridueña being his choice for Jimmy Olsen. As for Perry White, there were two names being tossed around. Read what Smith says below.

"Our Perry White? I was going for John Goodman. The powers above had different thoughts. Not my idea, but somebody was just like, 'Could be that Harrison Ford is interested.'"

Indiana Jones Harrison Ford

While the actors had never signed on to star on Strange Adventures, one cannot help but wonder how amazing would it have been to see Ford and Cage DC in some capacity. Smith has long tried to bring Cage into DC as he proposed his casting in the doomed 1998 Superman Lives movie, and getting Cage to star as Bizzaro in Strange Adventures would have been a subtle nod to Smith's original plan for the actor. Unfortunately, it seems that the streak of bad luck for Smith's DC plans for Cage continues, as yet another of his planned projects has gone unrealized. Bizzaro now becomes another character on the list of superhero roles Cage came close to playing.

While the new comments from Smith make the sting of the cancellation of Strange Adventures even worse, it might pique the curiosity of some about how and if the filmmaker had planned to fit his anthology into the larger DCEU. Smith mentions that he was not allowed to use prominent characters like Superman and Lois in his show, but he had Easter eggs for the characters at the end of the episode. If the show had seen the light of the day, perhaps, the DCEU could have leveraged individual episodes to expand the tales of its poster heroes and set up new stories and introduce new characters in future films. Alas, the opportunity for that has been crushed, leaving all to wonder what other kooky tales could Smith have cooked up to tell in Strange Adventures.

Source: Fatman Beyond (via CBR)

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