Although Marvel’s superheroes currently dominate the box office, they’re pretty new to the scene. Meanwhile, DC Comics properties have always been a powerful draw at multiplexes. Superman and Batman alone carried the superhero genre for 20 years before Wesley Snipes broke the mold with Blade. While directors ranging from Richard Donner to Zack Snyder have put their stamp on DC movies, plenty of well-known directors have come and gone from DC film projects over the years.
Sometimes, the movie has ended up being made by somebody else. Other times, the project has died with the director’s departure. Here are 10 famous filmmakers who almost directed DC movies.
George Lucas (Superman: The Movie)
Before Richard Donner was hired to bring the Man of Steel to the big screen with Superman: The Movie, the studio offered the job to George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola, who were all friends from film school who became pioneers of the “New Hollywood” movement. Lucas turned down the job to work on Star Wars, while Spielberg turned it down to do Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Peter Jackson (Aquaman)
Peter Jackson has been offered a ton of comic book movies in the past, but he’s turned them all down because he’s never read a comic book and simply isn’t a fan of that world. He was reportedly offered Aquaman twice. Jeff Nichols and Noam Murro were also approached before James Wan was hired.
Warner Bros. initially approached Wan with his pick of either Aquaman or The Flash. He chose to direct the former, seeing Arthur Curry as the DC universe’s underdog.
Darren Aronofsky (Batman: Year One)
Between Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin killing the Batman franchise and Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins saving it, Darren Aronofsky was tapped to adapt the acclaimed Batman: Year One graphic novel for the screen.
He even started working on a screenplay with Frank Miller. However, the studio was unhappy with the changes that the script made to the source material and decided not to give it a greenlight.
Ben Affleck (Man Of Steel)
Ben Affleck was offered the chance to direct Man of Steel before he was cast to play Batman in its sequel. Guillermo del Toro was also approached, but turned it down to focus on adapting H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, although that project ended up being called off.
Darren Aronofsky, Duncan Jones, Matt Reeves (who is currently working on The Batman), Tony Scott, and Robert Zemeckis were all considered before Zack Snyder was tapped to direct.
George Miller (Justice League: Mortal)
Long before Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon brought the Justice League to the big screen in one of the most troubled film productions of all time, Mad Max director George Miller was working on a script called Justice League: Mortal.
Before a writers’ strike killed the project, Miller wanted to cast D.J. Cotrona as Superman, Armie Hammer as Batman, Megan Gale as Wonder Woman, Common as Green Lantern, Adam Brody as the Flash, Santiago Cabrera as Aquaman, and Mad Max’s Hugh Keays-Byrne as the Martian Manhunter.
David Fincher (Batman Begins)
Prior to Christopher Nolan being approached to reboot the Batman franchise, the studio approached M. Night Shyamalan and the Wachowskis. The Wachowskis turned down the project as they were about to shoot the second and third Matrix movies back-to-back.
The job was then offered to David Fincher, who turned it down. Based on his depiction of a crime-ridden city in Se7en, a Batman movie directed by Fincher probably would’ve been awesome.
Wes Craven (Superman IV: The Quest For Peace)
The unabashedly camp Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was originally set to be directed by Wes Craven, the horror visionary behind such terrifying hits as A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Last House on the Left. Unsurprisingly, Craven’s vision for Superman IV clashed with that of the producers — and Christopher Reeve — so he was promptly replaced.
Michelle MacLaren (Wonder Woman)
The first choice to direct Wonder Woman was Michelle MacLaren, a TV director who’s helmed episodes of such “Peak TV” hits as Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. However, she dropped out due to creative differences with the producers, and she was replaced by Patty Jenkins, who did such a good job that she was shortlisted for Time’s Person of the Year.
Before Jenkins was chosen to replace MacLaren, the studio also considered Kathryn Bigelow, Tricia Brock, Catherine Hardwicke, Karyn Kusama, Mimi Leder, and Julie Taymor for the job.
The Coen Brothers (Batman)
Tim Burton ended up being the perfect director to bring a glitzy vision of Gotham City to life on the silver screen, but he wasn’t the producers’ first choice. The job was offered to David Cronenberg and Joe Dante before Burton was hired.
The Coen brothers were also approached, but they turned it down as they didn’t want to make a movie they didn’t write. Sam Raimi was also under consideration, but at the time, the studio didn’t feel he had enough experience to tackle a big-budget blockbuster.
Tim Burton (Superman Lives)
Perhaps the most famous unproduced superhero movie of all time (there’s a whole documentary about it), Superman Lives was set to be directed by Tim Burton. It would’ve starred Nicolas Cage as Superman, with Chris Rock playing Jimmy Olsen and Kevin Smith providing the script.
Apparently in the film, Batman was going to have a cameo appearance at Supes’ funeral. However, producer Jon Peters had ridiculous demands, like he didn’t want Superman to fly and he wanted him to fight a giant mechanical spider.