Since its inception with 2013’s Man of Steel, the cast of the DC Extended Universe has been anchored by Henry Cavill in the role of Superman. The follow-up, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, added Ben Affleck’s Batman, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman, and Ezra Miller’s Flash. Suicide Squad added Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn into the mix and Wonder Woman and Aquaman each introduced new supporting characters to the franchise.
This franchise’s roster of actors keeps growing, and the studio doesn’t take the task of casting iconic comic book roles lightly. So, here are 10 actors who nearly landed roles in the DCEU.
10 Matt Bomer As Superman
The Man of Steel producers’ top choice for the role of Kal-El was Matt Bomer. Bomer had previously voiced Superman in the direct-to-video animated movie Superman: Unbound and went on to play Negative Man in the TV series Doom Patrol.
Joe Manganiello also met with Zack Snyder to discuss the role, but his commitments to True Blood prevented him from taking the part. Manganiello ended up making a cameo appearance as Deathstroke in Justice League’s post-credits scene, which went nowhere.
9 Emma Roberts As Harley Quinn
Before Margot Robbie landed the role of Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, Emma Roberts was approached about the part. However, she’d been offered the lead role in the TV series Scream Queens, so she turned it down.
After Roberts withdrew herself from the shortlist, many actors were considered, including Alison Brie, Rooney Mara, Amanda Seyfried, Emma Stone, and Olivia Wilde. Mary Elizabeth Winstead was considered, but she went on to play the Huntress in Birds of Prey.
8 Bryan Cranston As Commissioner Gordon
Commissioner Gordon was introduced to the DCEU in 2017’s Justice League, played by J.K. Simmons. Simmons, who had previously played J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, wasn’t the producers’ first choice for the part.
Initially, the role was offered to Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston, who turned it down. Cranston had previously voiced Gordon in the animated movie Batman: Year One.
7 John Cena As Shazam
David F. Sandberg met with John Cena in the early stages of developing Shazam! to discuss the titular role. However, Cena had to turn down the role, because Shazam!’s shooting schedule conflicted with that of Bumblebee. Cena will be joining the DCEU soon enough, as he’s set to appear in The Suicide Squad.
Of course, Zachary Levi ended up landing the role of Shazam, giving him a comic book role worthy of his charms after being sidelined by two Thor movies in the role of Fandral.
6 Zoe Saldana As Lois Lane
Before Amy Adams was chosen to play Lois Lane in Man of Steel, a pre-Guardians of the Galaxy Zoe Saldana got pretty far in the casting process. If Adams had turned down the part, Saldana probably would’ve gotten it.
A number of other actors, including Jessica Biel, Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried, and Kristen Stewart, all did screen tests for the part.
5 Olga Kurylenko As Wonder Woman
The runner-ups for the role of Diana Prince, before Gal Gadot clinched the role, were Olga Kurylenko and Élodie Yung. Jaimie Alexander was also approached about the role, but she, unfortunately, had to turn it down, due to her contractual commitments to the MCU.
Over the years, before the DCEU took off and unrelated Wonder Woman movies were in and out of development, Sandra Bullock, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Eva Green, Angelina Jolie, and Cobie Smulders (who has since voiced Wonder Woman in The LEGO Movie franchise) were all considered for the part.
4 Ryan Gosling As The Joker
When Suicide Squad was in development, the producers’ first choice for the role of the Joker was Ryan Gosling. However, Gosling turned it down, because he didn’t want to commit to multiple movies.
Ironically, Jared Leto, who ended up landing the part, was so unpopular in the role that he was never asked to do another movie. Before Leto was cast, Mark Strong, Matt Smith, and Sharlto Copley were all considered.
3 Nicole Kidman As Queen Hippolyta
Before Connie Nielsen was cast to play Queen Hippolyta in 2017’s Wonder Woman, both Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman were under consideration for the role.
Kidman would instead go on to appear in Aquaman as a different DCEU queen, Atlanna, the following year.
2 Tom Hardy As Rick Flag
The Suicide Squad producers’ top choice to play Rick Flag in the movie was Tom Hardy. He was even signed on to play the part when the film was in pre-production.
However, when Hardy got an offer to appear in The Revenant alongside Leonardo DiCaprio instead, he wisely jumped ship and did that movie instead. This paved the way for Kinnaman to take the role.
1 Jon Hamm As Batman
After the sequel to Man of Steel was retooled to feature Batman, Jon Hamm and Josh Brolin were both offered the role of Bruce Wayne. Of course, Ben Affleck ended up landing the part instead.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan recalled that on the set of Watchmen, Zack Snyder said he’d one day like to adapt The Dark Knight Returns and cast Morgan as Batman. Morgan was not approached to play Batman when BvS was in development, but he did play Thomas Wayne in its opening flashback sequence.
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