With many iconic films burned into the minds of movie buffs, it could be quite challenging to imagine a world where those same films played out differently. However, had the studios behind said films greenlit the original scripts, fans would probably view them in a much different manner.

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Thanks to the expansive range of the internet, a lot of these bizarre drafts from early on in a film's production are available to read, whilst others have been discussed by the casts and crews behind them. Nonetheless, these early takes on beloved films may shock, upset, or even amuse diehard fans of these famous movies.

Vincent Ward's Alien 3 (1992)

Early concept art for Vincent Ward's take on Alien 3.

Dubbed by many fans as "the greatest sci-fi movie never made," Vincent Ward's take on the third, and most infamous Alien movie, Alien 3, has gone down in legend. Co-Written by John Fasano, the draft saw Ripley crash onto a planet made of wood after the events of Aliens, soon being met by a colony of monks.

The script had some big differences, it was more focused on the horror and unique themes of the original Alien and does follow some of the same beats. Ultimately, 20th Century Fox got cold feet and the safer take on the film was chosen, which only worsened the studio's reputation.

Steve Englehart's Batman (1989)

Batman 1989 Concept art by David Russell.

Tim Burton's film's success wasn't always guaranteed, as Batman from 1989 had an Adam West-shaped shadow to attempt to escape from. And though the movie is beloved for pointing the Batman franchise in the right direction tonally, it's equally hated for the changes made to the source material, something Steve Englehart's version was faithful to.

According to Englehart's unvarnished viewpoint, his treatment for the movie focused more on the origin story of Robin and included Silver St. Cloud, The Penguin, and Chief O'Hara. Regardless, while Englehart's take on The Dark Knight was more faithful, it wasn't what Tim Burton wanted.

Walter Koenig's Star Trek VI (1991)

A poster for Star Trek VI with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy witnessing humans and Klingons come together.

After the failure of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the Star Trek producers were scrambling to give the cast of The Original Series a proper sendoff. Ultimately director Nicholas Meyer achieved this but had Chekov actor Walter Koenig's draft gone through, it would have ended the classic crew's journey in a shockingly gruesome way.

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Koenig detailed his draft at a convention, which had the classic crew come out of retirement to save Spock's new crew, leading to a bloodbath that led to everyone dying except for Spock and McCoy. The Undiscovered Country is already dark, but Koenig's take was pitch-black and would have caused continuity issues with The Next Generation episode "Relics," so it's probably good that they cut it.

Michael Chabon's X-Men (2000)

Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Mystique in early concept art for X-Men (2000)

Much like Tim Burton's Batman, Bryan Singer's X-Men movies have received equal praise and derision for both saving the superhero movie genre and jettisoning key parts of the source material. However, before Singer was in the director's chair, writer Michael Chabon delivered a rather interesting take on the movie to Fox.

The roster was much more expansive, showing Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Iceman, Beast, Nightcrawler, and Jubilee battle an original group of villains called The League of Gentlemen in a plot that also involved The Legacy Virus. Chabon's take was more faithful, however, it was far too ambitious for the team's cinematic debut.

John Brancato And Michael Ferris' Terminator Salvation (2009)

Concept art for Marcus' true body in Terminator Salvation.

Of the reviled Terminator sequels, Terminator Salvation, the film set during The Future War, isn't really all that bad. However, had John Brancato and Michael Ferris' original take on the movie gone through, it would have caught the fans completely off-guard.

According to the movie's director McG, the movie was originally supposed to end with John Conner dying before having his skin grafter to Marcus' body, only for Skynet to take over Marcus and prompt him to wipe out the resistance, giving Skynet the ultimate victory. Unfortunately, this version was leaked to fans, so the darker ending was substituted for a happier one.

Michael Kozoll and William Sackheim's First Blood (1982)

Rambo's gaze on the book cover for First Blood.

For a movie that was hated at the time for its perceived level of violence, First Blood only has one person die in the movie, but that wouldn't have been the case if the original script was used. Writer David Morell's original novel had John Rambo murder loads of people, something the original script by Michael Kozoll and William Sackheim maintained before soon abandoning.

RELATED: All The Real-Life Crimes Committed By First Blood's John Rambo

A major change part of the novel, which saw Rambo die at the end, almost made it to the screen, as it had been shot. However, star Sylvester Stallone hated this ending and rightfully demanded an ending that saw Rambo embrace Colonial Trautman before turning himself in, something that made his prior speech far more impactful.

Pixar's Toy Story (1995)

The original, more puppety design for Woody by Bud Luckey.

Black Friday was a dark day for Pixar, as when they presented an early cut of their first feature-length Toy Story movie to Disney, the suits hated it, despite Pixar more or less doing exactly what they said. Disney chairmen Jeffery Katzenberg pushed the studio to make the film more cynical and edgy, leading to a character shift for Woody.

In the much darker early reel, Woody was less of the toys' leader and more of a dictator, even directly attempting to kill Buzz. Upon realizing that they'd made a mistake, Disney gave Pixar the go-ahead to make Toy Story the movie they wanted to make.

Sam Hamm's Watchmen (2009)

A storyboard of Rorschach investigating the murder of The Comedian in Watchmen.

For the longest time, Watchmen was considered to be unfilmable, but that didn't mean that filmmakers didn't give it a good college try. Written in the late 80s, Sam Hamm's take on Watchmen, which was to be directed by Terry Gilliam, not only makes major changes to the comics, but it makes a drastic change to the ending.

At the end of Hamm's draft, a time paradox brings The Watchmen into a world where their adventures were delegated to the pages of comic books. After a great deal of development, Hamm and Gilliam's draft was scrapped, paving the way for the divisive Zack Snyder film in 2009.

George Lucas' The Star Wars (1977)

Luke, Han, Leia, and Darth Vader in George Lucas' first draft of Star Wars.

Star Wars is well-trodden ground these days, but George Lucas' original take on Star Wars will leave hardcore fans gobsmacked. The tale of the battle between The Rebellion and The Empire is there, but the execution and characters are quite different.

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In the rough draft of Star Wars, Luke Skywalker filled the Obi-Wan Kenobi role, Han Solo had green skin and gills, Darth Vader was a bounty hunter, and R2-D2 could talk. Needless to say, Lucas was dissatisfied with this version and wrote a draft closer to the one fans know and love, but a Dark Horse comic that recreates the original script has been published.

James Cameron's Spider-Man (2002)

A storyboard for James Cameron's Spider-Man.

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man is among the most iconic superhero films of all time, but it almost never happened, at least, if James Cameron had his way. Long before Sam Raimi stepped anywhere near the director's chair, Terminator creator James Cameron had a much darker take on The Wall Crawler which almost made it to the screen.

James Cameron's Spider-Man draft is interesting, as it was clearly intended for an R-Rating, with Peter Parker spouting out F-Bombs left and right. The draft also features radical reinventions of Electro and Sandman, as well as a unique look at the development of Peter Parker's abilities. Ultimately, rights issues led to this take on the character never seeing the light of day.

NEXT: 10 Major Movie Scripts That Got Leaked Online