Many actors have come close to playing Superman over the years, but we admittedly forgot that British actor Jude Law was once among them.
For those who may not know, Superman: Flyby was written by J.J. Abrams and set out to deliver a fresh take on the Man of Steel's origin story. Krypton was going to factor heavily into proceedings, with Lex Luthor now a government agent obsessed with UFOs and Lois Lane intent on exposing him to the public.
According to various leaks, Superman was set to square off with a group of villainous Kryptonians, ultimately dying and being sent to Kryptonian heaven to meet his father, Jor-El, before being resurrected. As you'd expect, Kal-El would return to save the day, only for a cliffhanger ending to feature him returning to his home planet.
In a new interview with The Playlist, the Captain Marvel and Skeleton Crew star revealed his near-miss with the iconic DC Comics character.
"So this is true. Yeah. And there was a process of flirtation going on," Law recalls. "And I always resisted because it just felt like [off]. And I know you can say, ‘Well, but you played Yonn-Rogg and Dumbledore!’ It just felt like a step too far."
"And it was when Brett Ratner was going to direct, I think. And they didn’t have a script, if I remember rightly. Did they have a script? I don’t remember reading one. This is a long time ago. They brought me the suit. They thought, 'This might change your mind.'"
As for the suit he tried on, it sounds like it was either a prototype made for Superman Flyby or the costume made for Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage's ill-fated Superman Lives.
"No, it wasn’t the Reeve suit. It was a kind of like it was more metallic. Anyway, I tried on and I looked in the mirror and part of me initially was like, 'Wow, this would be a [good thing],' and then I just thought, 'No, you can’t – you can’t do this. You can’t.' And I didn’t sell myself to myself," Law admits.
"And I stepped away and the film never happened anyway. So maybe it probably wouldn’t have done anything."
It's a little hard to imagine Law playing Superman, though the same could be said for at least some of the other actors approached for the role (the list includes Ashton Kutcher, Brendan Fraser, Matt Bomer, James Marsden, and Joel Edgerton).
When McG took over from Ratner, he eyed the likes of Jason Behr, Jared Padalecki, Michael Cassidy, and Henry Cavill, with the latter eventually chosen by Zack Snyder to be his Superman in 2013's Man of Steel.
Do you think Law would have been a good fit for Clark Kent?