Tons of superhero movies come out every year, and dozens more fail behind the scenes. Only a fraction of them ever make it to production — and some probably shouldn’t have made it that far anyway. Seriously, there are so many cancelled superhero movies that they make the blockbusters of today look few and far between. Think about how many gems were abandoned over the last few years of the superhero-movie boom! And try not to think about how many bombs hit theaters instead.
For this list, we’re going to take a brief glimpse at some of the more interesting cancelled or unproduced superhero movies never made. We’ll also touch on some of the worst ones that somehow made it to theaters instead to see where they went wrong. To clarify, the phrase “Should Have Been Cancelled: " is a bit of hyperbole — we’re not here to dictate what artists deserve to have their work produced. However, bad movies can have lasting repercussions for genres, careers, intellectual properties, and the industry at large. We’re not saying bad movies shouldn’t be made, only that bad movies can have bad consequences.
In case you’ve forgotten about some of these truly awful movies, let us remind you and show you what could have been instead. We wish some of these movies could have made it to theaters, even in their oddball concepts and non-traditional forms. Some of these… well, not so much. Here are 17 Superhero Movies That Were Cancelled (And 8 That Should Have Been.)
Should Have Been Cancelled: Catwoman
What started as a promising Michelle Pffeifer-led Catwoman adventure devolved into one of the worst movies ever made. Conceived as spin-off for Tim Burton and his Batman franchise, Catwoman simmered in development limbo for a decade. As the Batman franchise began to lose steam, so did its influences on the project.
Catwoman bears little resemblance to the DC Comics character aside from the costume. Not only does it lack any ties to Batman, but it has little to nothing going for it to begin with. The movie was critically panned and won Golden Razzies for just about everything — worst screenplay, worst director, worst actress, and even worst picture. Cancelling this project early on would have saved Warner Bros. a whole lot of money.
Cancelled: Superman Lives
While Warner Bros. still struggles to make Superman a hit, this cancelled project would have been quite the unique take. Tim Burton’s Superman Lives would have featured Nicholas Cage as the Man of Steel himself — and yes, this is real, we promise.
If you’ve never heard of Superman Lives, we highly recommend you look it up for yourself. The cancelled film is well-documented and continues to intrigue fans today. The film would have loosely adapted The Death of Superman and added new elements to it — like an invasion by Braniac, the debut of Doomsday, and even a living alien suit for Superman. It made it to screen tests (with Cage in full-costume,) but the project was eventually scrapped.
Cancelled: Fant4stic 2
20th Century Fox has tried to breathe life into the Fantastic Four for quite some time. 2015’s Fant4stic bombed at the box office and was met with critical derision upon release. Drama plagued the production — on-set disputes, tons of reshoots, and studio interference became hotter topics than the movie itself on release day.
Director Josh Trank infamously tweeted the night before the film’s release, claiming that the world would never see his true vision for the film. Just recently, Trank even redacted Fant4stic from his filmography. Fans of the Four still have hope — with Disney’s acquisition of Fox, the Fantastic Four belong to Marvel Studios once again. Fant4stic 2, on the other hand, was cancelled before production even began.
Should Have Been Cancelled: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
At first, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 had some potential. It featured several new villains, a great Spider-Man suit, an A-list cast, and even the promise of several spin-offs. Those promises felt more like threats after the movies hit screens, as it turned out shockingly campy, bloated, and disappointing.
Each villain performance seemed worse than the last, with Jamie Foxx’s take on Electro feeling especially cringeworthy. Sony was so concerned about setting up an Amazing Spider-Man cinematic universe that the studio seemingly forgot to make a good movie. Much of what was filmed ended up on the cutting room floor, alongside the rest of the franchise’s now-defunct future endeavors.
Cancelled: Batman Beyond
The beloved Batman Beyond animated series was nearly a live-action movie franchise. After the crashing and burning of Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. was looking to reboot the series with an entirely new direction. Animated series creators Paul Dini and Alan Burnett pitched the idea alongside a slew of other unproduced Batman projects, and sadly, Batman Beyond went unproduced.
The series is a radical departure from what casual audiences know and love — it would have focused on Terry McGinnis, a young boy who takes over for Bruce Wayne as the future’s Batman. The cartoon was popular at the time, but this pitch was turned down in favor of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins and his Dark Knight Trilogy.
Cancelled: Gambit
This has to be cancelled now, right? Finally? Or is it still in development?
20th Century Fox has been trying to make the Gambit solo movie for nearly a decade. Directors have come and gone, writers have tweaked the script several times, and yet nothing has come of the project. The only constant in the production is actor Channing Tatum, who signed on as Gambit — what, maybe an eternity ago?
With Disney’s acquisition of Fox now complete, all of the X-Men projects in limbo have seemingly been shut down. Technically, Disney could still revive Tatum’s Gambit project in a few years, but the version of this movie that Fox envisioned has likely been cancelled for good.
Cancelled: James Cameron’s Spider-Man
Before Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man made superhero movies cool again, James Cameron had plans for the wall-crawler that were unique to say the least. His version of the Spider-Man adaptation was raunchier, campier, and much less in line with the comics.
Arnold Schwarzenegger would have played Doctor Octopus. Electro and Sandman would have had totally original backstories. Peter and Mary Jane would have made love atop the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh, and it was supposed to be rated R.
There’s a lot of legal turmoil behind Cameron’s failed Spider-Man — way too much for us to unpack here — but the project would take years to evolve into the Spider-Man movie fans love today.
Should Have Been Cancelled: Suicide Squad
A lot went wrong with the early entries in the DC Extended Universe. Man of Steel is generally seen as a mixed bag, Batman v Superman is extremely divisive, and Suicide Squad is a bland mess.
It’s no secret that the film was butchered during editing — competing cuts of the movie led a muddy post-production process that may or may not have ruined the final product. It’s a bit harsh to say that this movie should have been canceled outright, but a ground-up reworking of Suicide Squad would have spared DC from a critical beating.
The sequel might be a total reboot, and with director James Gun at the helm, things are looking up for the Squad.
Cancelled: James Gunn’s Moon Knight
Speaking of James Gunn, the controversial and beloved director has already made his mark on superhero movies with the Guardians of the Galaxy films. However, he almost brought an entirely different hero to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Moon Knight is a fan-favorite character that still hasn’t made it into the movies, and Gunn could have been the one to make it happen.
Unfortunately, it was never more than just a pitch. Apparently Marvel Studios didn’t necessarily say no, but Gunn himself said in 2017 that he simply doesn’t have the time to helm the project. Things might have changed, and even though the specifics of the pitch are a mystery, it’s more than enough to pique fans’ interest.
Cancelled: Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max
Back in 2008, long before the success of the CW’s Arrow, there was Green Arrow: Escape From Super Max. His feature-film debut would have had Oliver Queen framed for murder and thrown in prison, forcing him to team up with incarcerated villains to escape. While the meat of the film would take place in Super Max, Green Arrow’s origin and backstory would have been explained through flashbacks.
The project, helmed by Dark Knight Trilogy writer David S. Goyer, simply never took off. Green Arrow was too obscure of a property at the time for Warner Bros. to go all-out for. Only years later would obscure characters become more viable for adaptation, but it’s a shame that this project never materialized.
Cancelled: X-Force
Despite Deadpool’s bombastic success at the box office, it seems as his X-Force spin-off just isn’t in the cards. The Disney-Fox merger seems to have dashed hopes of its release, at least for the moment, as all of Fox’s X-Men projects have been shelved. Their shelving could be temporary though, as Disney has the power to choose which projects to continue and which to drop.
It’s hard to see how this movie could happen in the family-friendly Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney could keep Deadpool “in his own space” — something many fans suggest — but at the moment, X-Force appears to have stalled all together.
Should Have Been Cancelled: Venom
Sorry, Venom fans, but this movie should never have happened. Sony has been trying to make a Venom spin-off film for years and none of them ever took off. Well, it finally did, except it turned out campy, generic, and completely detached from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Some fans see that as a plus; being free of Marvel’s continuity allows for more creative freedom. However, the character doesn’t work on any level if he is so far removed from Spider-Man. Also, more creative freedom doesn’t always lead to a better final product, and it certainly didn’t with Venom. It’s getting a sequel though, so let’s cross our fingers for some improvement.
Cancelled: Justice League: Mortal
The mind behind Mad Max: Fury Road and, uh… Happy Feet, almost gave the world the first live action Justice League. Justice League: Mortal went very far into production before its cancellation back in 2007. The film was completely cast, and the story presented fully-formed members of the League without any origin stories: Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter.
Based on Superman: Sacrifice and JLA: Tower of Babel, the League would have faced off against Maxwell Lord, who uses all of their weaknesses against them. The movie would have been emblematic of the Justice League animated series, and less like the DCEU we know today.
Cancelled: The Amazing Spider-Man 3
After the failure of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the next entry in the series was promptly cancelled. The sequel was ambitious for Sony, shaping up to be the catalyst for their now-defunct shared Spider-Man universe. The story would have followed Peter Parker grieving over the loss of his love, Gwen Stacy.
Paul Giamatti and Dane DeHaan would have reprised their roles as Rhino and Green Goblin respectively, and even Chris Cooper was supposed to return as Norman Osborn. The Amazing Spider-Man 3 would have introduced the universe’s Sinister Six, the villain faction teased at the end of the second film. Their inclusion was planned in anticipation of their own spin-off film, another casualty of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Cancelled: The Incredible Hulk 2
The first set of MCU movies were all supposed to have sequels. Marvel Studios never outlined any concrete plans for The Incredible Hulk 2, but some details are available.
Tim Blake Nelson’s Samuel Sterns was set to return as the Leader, now deformed from his accident in the first film. Tim Roth was also signed on for more MCU appearances as Abomination, one of the few villains to survive their respective Marvel movies.
Hulk’s film rights are partially held by Universal Studios, a factor that dissuaded Marvel Studios from pursuing the series further. The studio decided to parse the character’s arc out over the Avengers films and Thor: Ragnarok instead.
Cancelled: Ben Affleck’s The Batman
Despite all of DC’s failures, Ben Affleck showed real promise as an older Bruce Wayne and Batman. Unfortunately, he never got a moment to truly shine outside of mediocre movies (or awful, depending on where you stand.) This is especially true when it comes to The Batman, which Affleck was set to both star in and direct.
Affleck’s initial plans had Deathstroke face off against Batman — even releasing some Deathstroke test footage when he was still directing the project. However, after months of rumors and uncertainty, Affleck left the project and the role of Batman. Director Matt Reeves has been at the helm since Affleck vacated the director’s chair, and whatever his original vision was is never coming to screens.
Should Have Been Cancelled: Justice League
Zack Snyder’s Justice League two-parter entered production immediately after the completion of Batman v Superman. Warner Bros. would soon regret this, as the backlash to the latter film shook their confidence in the director.
Several writers came in to preemptively course-correct Justice League. After Zack Snyder stepped down to deal with the loss of his daughter, Joss Whedon (one of the script doctors) took over and finished the film. The final product ended up being a tonal mess that couldn’t make up for Batman v Superman’s mistakes.
Warner Bros. rushed to build a franchise on shaky foundation, and because of it, the film debut of the Justice League wasn’t the cinematic event it should have been.
Cancelled: Doctor Doom
Like the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom has never had a fair shot to shine on the big screen. A standalone film about the character has been in the works for some time now, but it appears that Disney’s Fox acquisition has thrown this project into limbo.
Fargo and Legion scribe Noah Hawley was writing the script. The film would effectively reboot the Fantastic Four while telling the story from a new perspective. He compared Doctor Doom to Captain America: The Winter Soldier in that it’s a blend of different genres. However, it might not be cancelled for good, as Marvel Studios has expressed interest in Hawley’s script.
Cancelled: Inhumans
With the X-Men over at Fox, Marvel wanted to recreate their success by creating a surrogate franchise: the Inhumans. The movie was initially part of Marvel’s Phase 3 timeline, but a schism within Marvel had the heroes land on television instead.
Inhumans didn’t fare better as a TV series. The show was brutalized by critics and audiences until it was unceremoniously cancelled after a single season. The strict continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe means they still exist and could return in the future, but it’s unlikely that the team will return, especially on film in the way originally intended.
Cancelled: Iron Fist
An Iron Fist film has been in the works since 2000. The first iteration of the project would have starred actor and martial artist Ray Park — or Darth Maul himself, for the unfamiliar. From there, the project was delayed dozens of times. Directors signed on and dropped out so often that the film became less of a priority, especially while the MCU was beginning to ramp up.
Netflix’s now-defunct Iron Fist series seems to have been the only thing to ever manifest from the plan. However, now that Marvel Studios has begun production on a Shang Chi film, Iron Fist has the chance to show up in the movies after all.
