Hollywood is almost as famous for rumors as it is for making movies, and it can seem like there's a new rumor every day about one actor or another being cast as some superhero. When a movie that's in the pipeline adapts a popular book, tells the life story of a beloved celebrity or brings a new comic book superhero to the screen, fans get especially eager to know who will playing their favorite characters.
Actors' casting depends not only on their auditions but also on scheduling and their chemistry with other actors. Sometimes, casting rumors seem too good to be true, and more often than not, they are. Some Reddit users wrote about times when they got their hopes up too much about casting possibilites, and it mostly resulted in disappointment, whether it was Bryan Cranston being cast as Lex Luthor or even Bob Hoskins as Wolverine.
Joaquin Phoenix As Doctor Strange
Jclinares recalls when Joaquin Phoenix was rumored to play Doctor Strange. It would have been a very different movie, and it's hard now to imagine Phoenix reciting the line, "Let's Scooby-Doo this crap." However, it was later revealed that it was more than just a rumor. Phoenix actually turned down the role.
The Redditor explains that, "he wasn't interested in signing on for a multi-movie deal, so they could never make it work." Unfortunately, that reason doesn't look good for Joker 2's chances either, even if the script is being written.
Matt Smith As The Villain In Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
Perverse_panda remembers all of the theories surrounding Matt Smith joining The Rise of Skywalker. The Redditor makes a great point that "Matt Smith being a new bad guy for Episode 9 would have been a lot better than bringing back Palpatine." The return of Emperor Palpatine is something Rise of Skywalker got wrong, but the alternative of Smith playing a new kind of terror would have been more than welcome.
Though it isn't clear exactly what kind of villain Smith would have been, whether it was a human or some kind of powerful Sith Lord, it would have expanded on the universe. And that's exactly what the sequel trilogy needed, as the scope of the series was constantly shrinking in the three films.
Sacha Baron Cohen As Freddie Mercury
Sacha Baron Cohen's take on Freddie Mercury is a performance that Melinte desperately wanted to see. Cohen has an uncanny likeness to Mercury, and given how theatrical the actor is, he would have been great in the role. However, it wasn't just a rumor, but the Borat actor was officially cast as the Queen singer.
Unfortunately, he wasn't satisfied with how the movie was being developed, which led to creative differences between Cohen and the remaining members of Queen. But everything happens for a reason, as Rami Malek was subsequently cast and gave an Academy Award-winning performance in Bohemian Rhapsody.
James Purefoy As 007
There have been so many rumors about who will eventually play James Bond over not just years but decades. But one of the most interesting in Kaljamatomatala's opinion is James Purefoy's rumored casting. It's well known that Purefoy screen-tested for Bond in the mid-90s, but there were tons of rumors that followed 10 years later when Pierce Brosnan hung up the tux.
Purefoy isn't the most famous actor in the world, but he's a fantastic actor, and the way he carries himself fits the bill to play James Bond perfectly. The Redditor thinks the casting choice "could've been interesting," but he may not have been completely in line with the gritty approach that was taken with Craig's movies.
Robin Williams As The Riddler
The Riddler is arguably Batman's greatest foe, but it didn't exactly come across that way in Batman Forever when Jim Carrey depicted the iconic villain. Whether it was down to the direction, the performance, or both, it isn't exactly the most beloved performance ever.
However, it could have been completely different if Dangerous_Doubt6190 got their way. The Redditor remembers when rumors were swirling around about Robin Williams being cast in the movie. They honestly mention that "I don't know if it would have worked, but 9-year-old me was psyched."
Bryan Cranston As Lex Luthor
Breaking Bad has become one of the most celebrated TV shows ever made, and Bryan Cranston's best role is Walter White. And because of that, the actor's name was being brought up when it came to fan-casting anything. One of the most fitting of them all was Lex Luthor, and there were so many rumors that he had shaved his head once again to play the Superman villain.
Royal-Law-3302 was most excited to see Cranston in the role, but "instead we got a hippie-looking Mark Zuckerberg." The Redditor is brilliantly referring to Jesse Eisenberg's depiction of the character in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, who also played the Facebook founder in The Social Network.
Beyonce As Storm
One of the most fascinating casting rumors of the 21st century was Beyonce playing the weather-altering superhero in X-Men. Frenchtoasterss even remembers when "there was literally an online petition to stop her from playing Storm."
Interestingly, Beyonce has actually thrown her hat in the ring years later too. With Marvel Studios rebooting X-Men and bringing it into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, according to The Jasmine Brand, Beyonce would love to play Storm. And there are even more rumors that she'll be appearing as Storm in Black Panther 2.
Mads Mikkelsen As Doctor Doom
There have been rumors of Mads Mikkelsen being cast as Doctor Doom for years, and back in 2017, Mikkelsen even showed interest in playing the character. Unfortunately, though Doctor Doom is a villain who will eventually appear in the MCU but is yet to be cast, it's unlikely to be Mikkelsen, as the actor already plays Kaecilius in the universe.
Despite that, BikingLlama is optimistic that it could still happen, saying that "it hasn't not happened yet, but I'm pretty sure it will." And in fairness, actors have played multiple characters in the MCU in the past, such as Gemma Chan playing both Minn-Erva in Captain Marvel and Sersi in Eternals.
Bob Hoskins As Wolverine
In the comic books, Wolverine is muscular, but he's extremely short, which doesn't exactly match with Hugh Jackman's towering height. And in that respect, Bob Hoskins would have made a great Wolverine. Necromancer513 wanted more than anybody for the old rumor to have been true.
It isn't a complete shame, as Hugh Jackman turned Logan into an iconic character and played him for 17 years. But with the character inevitably getting recast soon, casting Danny DeVito to play Wolverine would surely fill the Bob Hoskins-shaped hole in the Redditor's heart.
Philip Seymour Hoffman As The Penguin
After the huge success of The Dark Knight, and with everybody knowing there was no chance of the Joker returning, there were hundreds of rumors about who would be the new villain and who would play them. Smaxlab recalls the time the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman was heavily rumored to play the penguin.
It's unfortunate that it never happened, as few actors could have pulled off such a grounded portrayal of the villain, and if his villainous role in Mission: Impossible III is any indication, he would have been terrifying. But there were so many rumors surrounding the third Batman movie that the Redditor even explains "there were rumors of Johnny Depp playing The Riddler."