DC Screwed Over an Actor Twice (& Marvel Didn’t Do Much Better)

The early 2000s were a great time for television. In addition to prestige series like The Sopranos and The Wire dominating the charts, networks also tried their hand at dramatic storytelling. One Tree Hill and Dawson’s Creek became cultural phenomena due to their engaging romantic subplots, and Peter Berg caught wind of that. He decided to create a sports drama series based on a popular book, Friday Night Lights. It ran for five seasons and acted as a springboard for several notable actors, including Minka Kelly, Taylor Kitsch, and Jesse Plemons. Another Friday Night Lights star, Adrianne Palicki, also found success, but she ended up getting burned her fair share as well.

In addition to appearing on Friday Night Lights, Palicki landed roles on two notable The WB shows, Supernatural and Smallville. That put her on the radar at Warner Bros., so when it wanted to take big swings on television with DC shows, the powers that be called her up. However, DC failed to do right by her, and years later, Marvel didn’t make things up to her.

Adrianne Palicki Starred in Two Failed DC Pilots

While Smallville was at the height of its powers, The WB wanted to put another DC hero on the air. It turned to Al Gough and Miles Millar, who created Smallville, and they came up with the idea for an Aquaman series. While the character had already appeared in the Superman-led series, the creative team wanted to take things in a different direction, so they cast a familiar face, Justin Hartley, as Arthur Curry. Lou Diamond Phillips and Ving Rhames also joined the cast in major roles, while Palicki was picked to play the villain, Nadia. The WB ordered a pilot, but it fell through the cracks after the network became The CW.

A few years later, Warner Bros. tried to bring Wonder Woman to the small screen in a TV series for NBC. Palicki landed the lead role in a project that would have seen Diana Prince live a double life as a hero and corporate executive. A pilot was shot featuring a few other notable names, such as Elizabeth Hurley and Cary Elwes. However, the biggest actor to sign onto the project ended up being Pedro Pascal, who was going to play Ed Indelicato, a police department liaison. The series not being picked up worked out for Pascal, and Palicki didn’t do too badly for herself, either. But she could have done even better if Marvel hadn’t pulled the rug out from underneath her.

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Marvel Nearly Handed Adrianne Palicki Her Own TV Series

To capitalize on the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel created a show based around the spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s first season reacted to the events of MCU movies, such as Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Thor: The Dark World. Season 2 was where it really went wild, though, as the show introduced Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird, a popular character in Marvel Comics. Palicki played the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who was at odds with Phil Coulson’s group. Eventually, the two factions worked out their differences, and Morse became an invaluable member of the team.

Things weren’t always easy for Morse because she was working with her ex-husband, Lance Hunter, but she persevered. She even survived being tortured by former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Grant Ward, who turned his back on his friends during HYDRA’s return in Season 1. Morse’s character became so successful that ABC thought it would be a good idea to give her a spinoff, where she would have a chance to shine alongside Hunter. Both characters were written off of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and given a farewell episode, “Parting Shot,” which is considered one of the series’ best.

Palicki went to work on the pilot for Marvel’s Most Wanted after filming her final Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. appearance, and things were shaping up nicely. Delroy Lindo and Mckenna Grace were part of the cast, and talented writers signed on. However, ABC passed on the project and began working on Inhumans. There’s no way to know for sure that Marvel’s Most Wanted would’ve taken off, but finally giving Palicki her shot at leading a superhero project couldn’t have been a worse option than what ended up airing on ABC.

Which of the failed Adrianne Palicki projects would you like to have seen? Is there another superhero role that fits her? Let us know in the comments below!