Actors Who Refused Big DC Roles

Longtime friends Matt Damon and Ben Affleck got their start in Hollywood together by writing and starring in "Good Will Hunting" in 1997. Nearly 20 years later, Affleck joined the DCEU as Batman, and although he's since (mostly) left the role, he was initially scheduled to direct a solo adventure featuring the character. Considering their friendship, a lot of people think Damon should have had a role in Affleck's Batman movie, which is something Damon agreed with. "I'd consider anything with the right director, but I can't imagine there are any superheroes left, I think they're all taken at this moment," he said in 2016. "If [Ben] was directing me, I'd jump on it in a New York minute. I'd love to work with Ben." The thing is, Damon had his chance to star in a DC movie — and he turned it down.

It's hard to imagine anyone other than Aaron Eckhart playing Harvey Dent, a.k.a. Two-Face, in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight." However, Eckhart may not have always been the studio's first choice. In 2009, while doing press for "Invictus," Damon admitted he was once up for the role. "I couldn't [do it] — there was a scheduling thing," Damon told MTV News. "I'm a big Chris Nolan fan, but I never spoke to him." Damon believes the studio ultimately went with the right guy. "Look, Aaron is a great actor, so the movie didn't suffer for it. Every now and then you get one and you can't do it." Damon has since done small cameos in the last two "Thor" movies for Marvel. 

After starring in Christopher Nolan's "Inception" in 2010, Tom Hardy boarded Nolan's third Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises," as the villain Bane. When the time came for Warner Bros. to launch the DCEU, Hardy wanted to be a part of it. The studio approached him for a role in David Ayer's "Suicide Squad," but he turned down the project not long after receiving the final script for the film.

Considering the reaction critics had to "Suicide Squad," it might seem safe to believe the rumors that circulated in early 2015 that Hardy ended up turning down the role of Col. Rick Flag because he didn't like the "Suicide Squad" script. That couldn't be further from the truth, however: Hardy had previous commitments to Alejandro G. Inarritu's "The Revenant," which had tacked on an additional three months of filming in Calgary and later Argentina due to the lack of snow in Canada.

In fact, Hardy really loved the script, telling Collider, "Warner Bros. is my home studio, and I love them, so I was really bummed out. I wanted to work on ['Suicide Squad'] and I know the script is really f***ing alley ... that's gonna, I think, be a very important film for fans."

Warner Bros. had been trying to get a "Green Lantern" film off the ground for well over a decade before Martin Campbell directed the character's first live-action outing in 2011, starring Ryan Reynolds. The studio approached Kevin Smith (per Ain't It Cool News) in 1997 to write a script for the film, but he turned down the offer, feeling he wasn't the right fit for the job. Then MTV News reported that renowned director Quentin Tarantino received an offer to helm the project, but he also turned it down, feeling he'd outgrown his adoration for comic books. When the studio finally settled on a director and screenwriter, they started searching for their Hal Jordan.

While Reynolds ultimately got the part, he wasn't always the top contender. Warner Bros. approached Bradley Cooper, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake, and Sam Worthington, who either all rejected the project or weren't ultimately offered the part. Another one-time contender (per GQ) was "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm. "They came after me pretty hard for "Green Lantern." But I was like, 'Meh, that's not what I want to do,'" he recalled. "Never say never, but these aren't the kind of movies I like to go and see. They don't make the kind of movies I like to see anymore."

English actress and model Caroline Munro is known for her horror movies with Hammer Films, where she got her big break starring in Alan Gibson's "Dracula A.D. 1972" and then later Brian Clemens' "Captain Kronos — Vampire Hunter." In addition to starring in numerous action movies, Munro is also known for being a Bond girl. She played Naomi in Lewis Gilbert's "The Spy Who Loved Me," with Roger Moore as James Bond. However, in order to join the cast, Munro had to forego the opportunity to star in Richard Donner's "Superman."

Donner and Warner Bros. offered Munro the part of Ursa, a villain and collaborator of the iconic Superman villain General Zod. "Yes, it's true, I was offered Ursa," Munro told House of Horrors. "My agent at the time, Dennis Salinger, said that I should go with the Bond film because it seemed the best bet. Superman at that time was untried, whereas there had been Bond films before and he felt that it was the best role to take." Honestly, Salinger has a point, from a managerial viewpoint. In hindsight, however, going for Donner's "Superman" movie might have elevated her status in geekdom.

There aren't many actors more highly regarded than Anthony Hopkins, who still manages to impress us at this late stage in his career. Known to many as Hannibal Lecter from "The Silence of the Lambs" and its sequels, Hopkins allegedly had the opportunity to perform in a comics adaptation — but he declined. Before Michael Caine boarded Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" as Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, Nolan reportedly offered Hopkins the role. He turned it down, for reasons unknown. Thankfully he did, because without Caine as Alfred, Nolan likely never would have developed the close relationship with Caine that's led to the duo working together on multiple films.

Despite reportedly being turned down for the role of Mr. Freeze in Joel Schumacher's "Batman and Robin" (a role he lost to Arnold Schwarzenegger), Hopkins maintained his interest in DC movies. Not long after refusing the role of Alfred in "Batman Begins," he finally joined the DC universe as Jor-El in J.J. Abrams and Brett Ratner's "Superman: Flyby." Things didn't work out, though, and the project mutated into Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns." "I was going to do the movie with Brett, and I don't know what happened," Hopkins told MTV News. "I think Brett was out of line with something and they said thank you very much. I never heard from Brett since then, but I was all set to do it." Is Hopkins secretly a huge comic book fan, and we just didn't know about it? At least he got his chance to play Odin in Marvel's "Thor" movies.

Jude Law's an excellent actor, but he's not a huge movie star. After the disastrous performance of "Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow," Law was probably nervous about headlining another action franchise — especially when the character is the greatest superhero of them all. On "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," Law revealed that director Bryan Singer offered him the role of the Man of Steel for 2006's "Superman Returns." Singer even sent Law the suit to try on: "I take the suit into the bathroom and I'm putting it on and I look around and I look in the mirror and suddenly I'm Superman," Law recalled. "And the music kind of comes in. Then I have this picture of me in that costume in posters all over the world and I was like, 'No way!' And I unzipped it. But I was Superman for two minutes, that was enough."

Law turned down the role, which went to the unknown Brandon Routh. After the lukewarm reception to "Superman Returns," the series was rebooted with Law's fellow Brit, Henry Cavill. "I'm an Englishman and, I don't know, it just didn't seem to fit," said Law. "I was always worried about the outfit. I just didn't fancy it." Law presumably had no such qualms about the wardrobe for Yon-Rogg, the Kree warrior he played in 2019's MCU blockbuster "Captain Marvel."

Imagine living in an alternate universe where Heath Ledger played Bruce Wayne/Batman and Christian Bale played the Joker. It's not that far-fetched. In 2005, Ledger was the gravelly-voiced king of cool, while Bale was most known for playing the maniacal murdering psychopath Patrick Bateman (watch the chainsaw scene in "American Psycho" ... it's so Joker). We're happy with the way things turned out, but according to "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan, it was almost Ledger, not Bale, who donned the cape and cowl.

In an interview with the Daily Star, Nolan revealed that he offered the part of Batman to Ledger but was turned down: "He was quite gracious about it, but he said, 'I would never take a part in a superhero film.'" Thankfully, Ledger changed his mind, presumably after he saw "Batman Begins" and realized Nolan was going for a grittier, more realistic take. Fortunately, there were no hard feelings on Nolan's end, as he clearly was a great admirer of Ledger's work. "The Dark Knight" would become one of the highest-grossing movies of the decade, as well as the first film to earn $500+ million domestically since "Titanic," largely due to Ledger's performance as the Clown Prince of Crime. Ledger tragically died before the film's release, but his work won him his first and only Oscar. Still, how cool would it have been to see Ledger growl, "Swear to me!"? The answer: really cool.

If you Google "actors who almost played Wonder Woman," it seems like everybody was considered for the part, from Sandra Bullock to Megan Fox, though it's doubtful many of these actresses were ever formally approached for what most would consider a dream role. One actress who was approached for the role — and turned it down — was Kate Beckinsale. With her lead role as vampire death dealer Selene in the successful "Underworld" franchise, Beckinsale would have been a perfect fit for the Amazonian warrior in the mid-2000s. Alas, the most recent female superheroes on film during that time were Halle Berry in "Catwoman," Jennifer Garner in "Elektra," and Charlize Theron in "Aeon Flux." Not the best track record, and it sounds like this proposed Wonder Woman vehicle wasn't going to be much better: "The incarnations that I was seeing were ... They weren't this one [the 2017 film]," Beckinsale told Yahoo! Movies.

But even if the script was better, it sounds like Beckinsale would have been hung up by the same thing which has worried actors playing superheroes forever: the suit. "I don't know if I was desperate to be in a leotard," said Beckinsale. "I'd already done the rubber trousers. You have to take in that you have a child at some point and how much could you possibly embarrass them?"

It's a material world, and Madonna is a material girl (or so we've heard). So we were a little surprised to find out that "The Queen of Reinvention" didn't want to reinvent herself as the Dark Knight's arch-rival-slash-love-interest Catwoman in Tim Burton's hugely anticipated "Batman Returns" in 1992. After all, the film was the sequel to the record-breaking, undisputed summer 1989 champ "Batman," which earned $411 million worldwide, in large part due to Jack Nicholson's iconic take on The Joker. Wouldn't Madge playing the super-famous villain Catwoman in the sequel be "Vogue"? Ms. Ciccone didn't seem to think so. 

Madonna confirmed the longstanding rumor that she turned down the role of Selina Kyle/Catwoman in an interview on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon," saying: "I regret that I turned down Catwoman. That was pretty fierce." Thanks to Michelle Pfeiffer, who famously played the femme fatale in the film, it certainly was fierce. While we're happy with the way Pfeiffer's performance panned out, we can't help but wonder what Madonna would have done in the role. Madonna didn't really elaborate on why she turned down Catwoman, though we can speculate it was because she'd just starred in another comic-based property, Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy," in 1990. Or maybe she just got "Hung Up" (okay, we'll stop now) about black leather, as she revealed to Jimmy Fallon that she also turned down the role of Trinity in "The Matrix." 

James Caan has wowed audiences over the years with his roles in movies like "The Godfather," "Misery," and "Brian's Song." His success led Warner Bros. executives to offer him the role of Clark Kent/Superman in the 1978 film "Superman: The Movie," but Caan didn't think it was the right fit for him. While considering the role, he read an earlier version of the script that was much more comical than the final version. Although "The Godfather" author Mario Puzo and three other writers worked on it, director Richard Donner was dismayed that it leaned into a campier portrayal of the character.

Donner told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016, "I'm reading this thing and Superman's looking for Lex Luthor in Metropolis, and he's looking for every bald head in the city. And then he flies down and taps a guy on the shoulder and it's [Kojak's] Telly Savalas, who hands him a lollipop and says, 'Who loves ya, baby?'"

One of the reasons Caan turned down the role was because of all the absurd comedy in the script. "You have to understand, that when 'Superman' was made, it was written by Mario Puzo, and it was all tongue-in-cheek. It was hysterical," he said on "The Howard Stern Show." Another reason he wasn't interested was due to the fact that he'd have to film "Superman: The Movie" and "Superman II" one after another. The part ended up going to Christopher Reeve.

Sometimes when an actor portrays the main character in a popular movie, they end up being remembered for only that role for the rest of their life, much to their dismay. That was the main reason Paul Walker decided against playing the role of Superman. Walker, who had been in the "Fast and Furious" movies, "The Lazarus Project," and "Into the Blue," was offered the part sometime between 2001 and 2003.

According to Express, he spoke with director Richard Donner while considering whether or not he should accept the part. "By the end of it, the closing thing I said, 'Do you think I need it, should I do it?'" Walker recalled. "[Donner] said, 'For what sake?' I said, 'Financially.' He said, 'No kid, you do it if you want to do it.' I said, 'Well, I don't think I want to die as Superman.' And [Donner] said: 'Well there's your answer, don't do it.' And that was it."

Walker added that he respected Donner's opinion enormously and looked up to the legendary director almost as a father figure, saying, "You won't find anyone who tells it straighter than Richard Donner in the industry anyhow, I'll tell you that." While Superman went through several more years of development, it's likely that the role Walker was offered went to Brandon Routh, who portrayed the Man of Steel in 2006's "Superman Returns."

After starring in "Goodfellas," Ray Liotta wanted to avoid getting typecasted as a gangster, so he turned down a role in "The Sopranos" — but that wasn't the only big role he passed on. In 2016, he said that Tim Burton was considering casting him as the Joker in the 1989 film "Batman," but he turned down the audition.

"I thought, 'Batman? That's a stupid idea,' even though he'd just done one of my favorite movies of all time, 'Beetlejuice.' So yes, I regret not auditioning for that," he told Irish News, adding, "My career could've taken off in a different kind of way." He expressed a similar sentiment during an interview with the Los Angeles Times in 2017. "I think Tim Burton is such a great, great director, and I've always regretted not going to meet him," Liotta said. "Just to meet him, just to talk — whether I agreed with playing it — because I couldn't wrap my head around and understand."

Jack Nicholson ended up portraying the Joker in the film. Despite missing out on the role, Liotta still had a successful career, earning an Emmy Award in 2005 for his performance in "ER."

Ryan Gosling has been an immensely popular actor for years, starring in huge hits like "The Notebook" and "La La Land." He can afford to be picky about the roles he accepts, so he (wisely) chose not to play the Joker in the 2016 movie "Suicide Squad." According to The Wrap, Gosling passed on the role because he did not want to be tied down to a franchise in which he might be contractually obligated to appear in several additional movies.

The film went on to get terrible reviews from both critics and audiences as of 2023, so Gosling dodged a bullet by refusing to be in it. Unfortunately, that meant Jared Leto snagged the role of the Joker, which some view as one of the worst casting choices of all time. Oddly enough, in addition to being offered the same role in "Suicide Squad," Gosling and Leto starred alongside each other in the movie "Blade Runner 2049" not long after that. We're just glad Leto left the flashy silver grill behind for that role.

Michael Rosenbaum is no stranger to comic book adaptations, having played Superman's arch-nemesis Lex Luthor for many years on the series "Smallville." On top of that, he's friends with James Gunn and has worked with him on multiple projects, including "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." Considering all of that, we can see why Gunn offered him a role in "The Suicide Squad," but the actor had to pass on it.

"I supposed to be in it, but I had neck surgery and I couldn't do a role," Rosenbaum said during an episode of Comicbook.com's "Talking Shop" in 2020. "I couldn't do the role because it was too physical at that time, and I couldn't jeopardize my neck." Fans were curious what role he was offered, but the actor has remained tight-lipped about the details, saying, "For now, this role is going to remain a secret." Maybe this means there's a possibility of him taking over the role later on, but only time will tell.

You may have seen Clint Eastwood's son, Scott Eastwood, in movies like "The Fate of the Furious" and "Pacific Rim Uprising." He also played Lieutenant GQ Edwards in director David Ayer's "Suicide Squad." His character was a Navy SEAL who helped Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), but he didn't have much screen time in the theatrical release of the film. Eastwood told Insider in 2022, "I have talked to David, and I know my character got a lot more love in the Ayer cut." By "the Ayer cut," he means the director's first edit, which the studio changed drastically before the releasing the final cut.

When Eastwood had the chance to be in James Gunn's sequel-reboot, "The Suicide Squad," he was on the fence about it. "They didn't want to pay me any money for those next movies and ... they didn't have another script for the other movie, so I didn't know what I was going to be signing myself up for."

Since his father has a lot of experience in Hollywood, he called him for advice. "I said, 'They don't want to pay me.' He said, 'If it feels like they really need you and if it's a good part, then do it. If not, then don't.'" His decision was probably for the best since many of the characters from Ayer's version of the movie were killed off in Gunn's version anyway.