Actors Who Were Almost Cast in DC Movies

DC movie history is full of casting “what ifs.”

Some actors came close to playing Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Joker, Catwoman, Lex Luthor, Green Lantern, or other major DC characters. Some auditioned and lost the role. Some signed deals before projects collapsed. Some passed after trying on the costume. Others were cast in movies that never made it to theaters.

Here are actors who were almost cast in DC movies.

Josh Brolin

Josh Brolin came close to playing Batman in Zack Snyder’s DC universe.

Before Ben Affleck was cast as Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Brolin was in serious consideration for the role. He later said Snyder went in another direction, but he seemed open to the idea and even joked about still wanting to play Batman when he was older.

Brolin would have brought a rougher, older, more Western-style edge to Batman. Affleck ultimately became Snyder’s Batman, while Brolin went on to dominate another comic-book universe as Thanos in Marvel’s Avengers films.

Matt Bomer

Matt Bomer nearly became Superman in the early 2000s.

He was connected to Superman: Flyby, a planned film written by J.J. Abrams and attached to director Brett Ratner. Bomer later said he had gone through a long audition process and even had a three-picture deal before the project fell apart. He has also said he believes his sexuality was used against him during that period, though later reports have noted conflicting accounts about whether the project collapse, studio changes, or other casting politics were the main reason.

The film never happened. Warner Bros. later moved forward with Superman Returns, starring Brandon Routh.

Jude Law

Jude Law was also close to playing Superman.

He revealed that he tried on the Superman suit for a project connected to director Brett Ratner in the early 2000s. But once he saw himself in the costume, he felt the role was not right for him. Law said the whole thing felt like a step too far, especially without a full script in place.

That project never became the final Superman film. Brandon Routh later wore the cape in Superman Returns.

Will Smith

Will Smith has said he was offered Superman but turned it down.

His reasoning was tied to pressure and public expectation. After Wild Wild West, Smith was cautious about taking another iconic role that could become a huge target if it failed. He did not want to be the actor blamed for getting Superman wrong.

Smith eventually joined DC in a different way as Deadshot in Suicide Squad. That role fit his screen persona more naturally: charismatic, flawed, funny, dangerous, and human.

Nicholas Hoult

Nicholas Hoult has had one of the strangest DC casting journeys.

He was in the running for Batman in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, a role that went to Robert Pattinson. Later, he auditioned for Superman in James Gunn’s reboot, but David Corenswet won the role. Hoult finally landed in the new DC universe as Lex Luthor.

That makes Hoult a rare case: he nearly played Batman, then nearly played Superman, then ended up as Superman’s greatest enemy.

Jacob Elordi

Jacob Elordi was asked to audition for Superman, but he declined.

The Euphoria and Priscilla actor said the idea felt too dark for him and suggested that superhero movies were not really his taste. The role in James Gunn’s Superman reboot eventually went to David Corenswet.

A superhero role can make an actor globally visible, but it also comes with a long commitment and a very specific public identity.

Armie Hammer

Armie Hammer did not just audition for Batman. He was cast.

Hammer was set to play Bruce Wayne in George Miller’s canceled Justice League: Mortal. The movie was planned before Zack Snyder’s DC universe and would have featured a full Justice League lineup years earlier. Production fell apart because of budget, timing, and industry issues.

Hammer’s Batman would have arrived long before Ben Affleck or Robert Pattinson. Because the movie was canceled, audiences never got to see what his version of the character would have been.

D.J. Cotrona

D.J. Cotrona was cast as Superman in Justice League: Mortal.

The George Miller project had a full ensemble ready, including Armie Hammer as Batman and Cotrona as Clark Kent. But the movie collapsed before filming could move forward properly, leaving Cotrona’s Superman as another lost DC timeline.

Cotrona later appeared in the DC world through Shazam! as one of the adult superhero forms, but he never got to lead a Superman film.

Megan Gale

Megan Gale was cast as Wonder Woman in Justice League: Mortal.

Before Gal Gadot became the big-screen Diana Prince, Gale was set to play the character in George Miller’s canceled team-up film. The project would have brought Wonder Woman to live-action cinema years before Batman v Superman and the 2017 Wonder Woman movie.

Gale later appeared in Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, but her Wonder Woman remains one of DC’s most interesting unrealized castings.

Lonnie Rashid Lynn

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known professionally as Common was cast as John Stewart, the Green Lantern, in Justice League: Mortal.

That would have made him one of the first major live-action versions of John Stewart on the big screen. The role never happened because the movie was canceled, but Common later joined DC in another way, playing Monster T in Suicide Squad.

A John Stewart-led Green Lantern in the late 2000s could have changed DC’s movie path.

Adam Brody

Adam Brody was cast as Barry Allen in Justice League: Mortal.

At the time, Brody was best known for The O.C., so his Flash would likely have brought a younger, witty, slightly awkward energy to the Justice League. The project collapsed, and years later Ezra Miller became the DCEU’s Flash.

Brody’s casting remains one of the more popular lost pieces of Justice League: Mortal because fans can easily imagine his timing working well for Barry Allen.

The role was his, but the movie was not.

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway went into her The Dark Knight Rises audition thinking she was up for Harley Quinn.

She prepared with Harley in mind, including the character’s energy and laugh. During the meeting, Christopher Nolan eventually told her the role was actually Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman. Hathaway won the part and played Catwoman opposite Christian Bale’s Batman.

This is not a standard “lost role” story because Hathaway did get a major DC role. But it is still a great casting switch.

She thought she was auditioning for one iconic Batman character and ended up playing another.

Cillian Murphy

Cillian Murphy auditioned for Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins.

Christopher Nolan ultimately cast Christian Bale as Batman, but Murphy impressed the team enough to get another major role: Dr. Jonathan Crane, better known as Scarecrow. Murphy’s unsettling calm made him a strong fit for the villain, and he appeared across Nolan’s Batman trilogy.

This is one of the best examples of a failed audition still becoming a win.

Heath Ledger

Before he became the Joker, Heath Ledger was considered for Batman.

Christopher Nolan met Ledger during the casting process for Batman Begins, but Ledger was not interested in doing a superhero movie at that time. Later, after seeing Nolan’s approach, Ledger became interested in the world and ultimately played the Joker in The Dark Knight.

That twist changed movie history.

John Lithgow

John Lithgow has said he turned down the chance to play Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman era.

He later reflected on the missed opportunity with regret, saying he could have been the Joker. The role eventually went to Jack Nicholson, whose version became one of the defining villains of 1980s blockbuster cinema.

Lithgow would have been a very different Joker: theatrical, sharp, strange, and probably more unpredictable than many fans imagine.

Zoë Kravitz

Zoë Kravitz tried to audition for a smaller role in The Dark Knight Rises, but she said she was told the production was not “going urban” for the part.

Years later, she clarified that she was not auditioning for Catwoman at that time. The experience stayed with her because of what it revealed about how race could affect casting opportunities. She eventually played Selina Kyle in Matt Reeves’ The Batman.

Kravitz’s story is especially powerful because she did eventually become Catwoman.

Bradley Cooper

James Gunn considered Bradley Cooper for Lex Luthor in Superman before casting Nicholas Hoult.

Gunn later said he wanted a contemporary counterpart to Superman for Lex, which made Hoult a better fit for the direction of the film. Cooper still joined the project in another way, playing Jor-El, Superman’s father.

Cooper as Lex would have been a major star-driven choice. Hoult’s casting points to a different approach: a younger Luthor who can grow alongside David Corenswet’s Superman.

Jessica Biel

Jessica Biel was reportedly in talks for Wonder Woman in Justice League: Mortal but did not take the role.

The part eventually went to Megan Gale before the entire George Miller project collapsed.

Biel’s almost-Wonder-Woman story belongs to the strange pre-DCEU era when Warner Bros. was trying to build a Justice League movie before standalone versions of many characters had been established.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Mary Elizabeth Winstead also confirmed she auditioned for Justice League: Mortal.

She was among the actresses linked to Wonder Woman during the casting process before Megan Gale landed the role. Winstead later joined DC as Huntress in Birds of Prey, bringing a dry, awkward, revenge-driven energy to the character.

Chris Pratt

Chris Pratt has been floated by fans for Batman in James Gunn’s new DC universe, but Gunn has clearly shut down that idea.

Pratt jokingly pitched himself for Batman to Gunn, but Gunn’s response made it clear that Pratt would not be playing the Caped Crusader. Gunn had also previously dismissed rumors about Pratt as Batman while leaving open the possibility that he could play another DC role someday.