They give out superhero movies to just about anyone these days. While it used to be that a character had to be a household name like Batman or Spider-Man to get a live-action project greenlit, the superhero movie boom changed everything, paving the way for the Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man to get their own trilogies. There wasn’t as much patience back in the day, so if one thing went wrong, a studio was ready to scrap an entire project. Some comic book movies deserved what they got because they just didn’t have enough going for them, but that wasn’t always the case.
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More than a few superhero movies that didn’t end up in theaters had great talent behind them and a unique premise. In fact, there are at least seven that still have potential and would likely crush at the box office.
1) X-Men Origins: Magneto
Around the same time that Fox was developing X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it began work on a Magneto movie to explore the origins of the villain. The 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike and the negative reception to Wolverine’s first solo outing forced the studio to reconsider another spinoff, so Magneto’s backstory was eventually retold in X-Men: First Class instead. However, with mutants about to become the focus of the MCU, it’s a good time to give a Magneto movie another chance.
2) Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max
In the late 2000s, DC wanted to capitalize on the success of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins by releasing another movie about a human character, Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max. Oliver Queen would’ve been framed for murder and forced to escape a prison that housed countless supervillains. While The CW’s Arrow told a similar story in Season 7, revisiting the premise in James Gunn’s DC Universe could finally allow Green Arrow to show what he’s made of on the big screen.
3) Deathstroke
Warner Bros. was really excited about getting Joe Manganiello to play Deathstroke in the DC Extended Universe. He was going to appear in Ben Affleck’s Batman movie, but that got scrapped. To make up for that, The Raid‘s Gareth Evans was recruited to develop Slade Wilson’s first solo movie. Sadly, after Justice League bombed, Warner Bros. wanted to wash its hands of anything it touched, including Deathstroke. The DCU hasn’t cast a new Deathstroke, though, so there’s still time for Gunn and Co. to make things right.
4) Spider-Man 4
Despite the lukewarm reception to Spider-Man 3, Sam Raimi still wanted to continue Peter Parker’s story. The fourth movie in the series would’ve seen the titular hero go up against the Lizard, Black Cat, and the Vulture, played by John Malkovich. Issues behind the scenes stopped the movie dead in its tracks, so Sony decided to reboot Spider-Man in 2011. Raimi’s version of the character returned in Spider-Man: No Way Home, opening the door for Sony to bring him back for one last ride if it wants to.
5) Justice League Mortal
While it takes several solo movies before even attempting a team-up in the modern superhero landscape, George Miller thought he could bring the Justice League to the big screen without any build-up in the late 2000s. Justice League Mortal‘s script was written, actors were cast, and everything appeared to be moving in the right direction. Issues with filming locations, the Writers Guild of America strike, and the success of The Dark Knight landed the movie on the shelf. While a Miller Justice League movie will look very different all these years later, he is still a great option to helm one.
6) Hellboy 3
Guillermo del Toro put his own spin on the superhero genre with the Hellboy movies. While neither one took the box office by storm, they told unique stories and featured fantastic performances from Ron Perlman and his castmates. Del Toro had another script ready to go, but various issues got in the way. After two failed Hellboy reboots, it’s time for the powers that be to let del Toro cook one more time.
7) Superman Lives
It sounds ridiculous to say that Nicolas Cage was going to play Superman in a movie directed by Tim Burton, but it’s true. Kevin Smith wrote the script for a wacky Man of Steel movie called Superman Lives, which would have had the hero face off against a giant spider, among other things. While the project fell apart, Cage ended up “playing” Superman in The Flash and fighting the arachnid. David Corenswet is about to put on the cape and trunks in the DCU, but if there can be two versions of Batman, there can be two Supermen.
Which cancelled superhero movie would you like to see the most? Is there another one that deserves a spot on this list? Let us know in the comments below!
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(Photo by Bruce Glikas/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
