It's getting close to the point now where an actor will have to appear in a superhero
movie to be considered a somebody.
Gone are the days when the genre was considered to be cheesy or even a poisoned chalice - now,
they're the in-thing in Hollywood, and anyone who's anyone seems to want to be a part of
them.That being said, they're actually not for everyone and, for various reasons, a number
of actors have turned down roles in the genre - albeit, in some cases, for reasons out of
their control.
Whether it's refusing specific roles, ruling themselves out of the genre completely, or
otherwise, some of the biggest names in cinema have said "no" to superhero roles.Here are
ten actors who refused roles in superhero movies.
Matthew McConaughey The incredibly talented Matthew McConaughey
has reportedly turned down roles in both Marvel and DC superhero movies, having read scripts
for both companies, but the only specific role that we know he turned down is a Marvel
one.The star of Dallas Buyers Club and Interstellar refused to take the part of the main villain
in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, after both Marvel Studios and director
James Gunn wanted him for the role.
Whether or not he'll take on one of the many roles he'll inevitably be offered in future
superhero movies remains to be seen, but the signs don't look promising so far.
Amanda Seyfried Although Amanda Seyfried hasn't actually been
offered a specific part in a superhero movie, the Les Misérables and Ted 2 star has said
on record that she will never, ever appear in one.
Why?
Well because superhero movies involve action, action requires stunts and stunts make Seyfried
feel sick!Speaking on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and citing her brief action cameo
in 2015's Pan, the actress stated that she enjoys watching superhero movies, but quite
vehemently stated "I just don't want to put on the suit".
In the same interview, she even stated that she'll never do a big, blockbuster movie franchise
of any kind.
Tom Cruise Prior to the release of 2008's Iron Man, if
fans had been given the choice between Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, 99% of them would
have chosen Cruise as their Tony Stark - and that's what Marvel Studios wanted.
However, Cruise turned the opportunity down and, in hindsight, it was a blessing in disguise.Downey
Jr. has been nothing short of iconic in the role, but he certainly wasn't the first choice.
Top Gun star Cruise had been in discussions with Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige about
starring in AND producing the first Iron Man movie for years, but he eventually backed
off, saying that he wasn't overly impressed with the script and didn't feel like it was
going to work.
Idiot!
Leonardo DiCaprio Titanic star Leonardo DiCaprio is the only
actor on this list to have turned down specific roles for both Marvel and DC movies - and,
in both cases, it was because he claimed that he simply wasn't ready to take on such roles
at the times that he was asked.First of all, he met with director Joel Schumacher about
playing Robin in 1995's Batman Forever, but didn't feel ready for the role.
Secondly, he was approached by Sony, but turned down the role of Peter Parker in 2002's Spider-Man
movie for the same reason.
The two roles ultimately went to Chris O'Donnell and Tobey Maguire respectively.
Joaquin Phoenix Of all the characters in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe, it is undoubtedly Doctor Strange who has had the most actors linked to playing
him.
The role that ultimately went to Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch was rumoured to
be going to the likes of Patrick Dempsey, Tom Hardy and Joaquin Phoenix.Phoenix is the
only actor known to have outright refused it, however.
When asked by Time Out London about exactly why he said "no", the Walk the Line star spoke
in general about why he turns down big-budget movies.
He said "When I was younger I was probably a bit of a snob about them.
But they've gotten better.
I've flirted with several of those films, having meetings and getting close, but ultimately
it never felt like they'd really be fulfilling."
Emily Blunt Sometimes, actors can say "no" to doing superhero
movies because it's out of their control, because, for example, they have scheduling
conflicts.
In some cases, that can work out well for them, but in the case of Emily Blunt, it's
a situation she must regret.The English star had the opportunity to play both Peggy Carter
and Black Widow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but was busy on other projects.
Having to say "no" to the Black Widow role must play on Blunt's mind in particular.
Scarlett Johansson has played the character since 2010 in several massively successful
MCU movies - including both Avengers outings.
And the reason Blunt couldn't take the role in the first place?
She was working on the awful Gulliver's Travels.
D'oh!
Jai Courtney Of course, Jai Courtney did ultimately end
up appearing in 2016's Suicide Squad movie but, prior to his casting in the movie, the
Terminator Genisys star had outright stated that he didn't want to appear in any comic
book productions, telling MTV's Josh Horowitz that he believed it was a "tired" and "saturated"
genre.In fact, the only reason he took the role as Captain Boomerang AKA "Digger" Harkness
in Suicide Squad is because director and writer David Ayer convinced him that it wouldn't
be anything like the typical comic book movie adaptations that had been seen before, with
Courtney describing the adaptation as "dope", "dark" and "cool".
Tom Hardy Tom Hardy famously played the Batman villain
known as Bane in 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, but he has since turned down a role in another
DC movie - 2016's Suicide Squad - although the reason given for that happening differs,
depending on who you listen to.Initially, it was believed that Hardy was forced to turn
down the role of Rick Flagg in the movie because of scheduling conflicts with his role in 2015's
The Revenant, but it has apparently since come to light that his reason for turning
down the role might have been more blunt than that - he simply didn't like the script!
Regardless of which one you believe, he had to refuse the invitation to appear in Suicide
Squad one way or another.
Jake Gyllenhaal Speaking of Tom Hardy, after the Mad Max:
Fury Road star turned his back on Suicide Squad, a replacement actor for the role of
Rick Flagg was required.
Ultimately, the role went to RoboCop star Joel Kinnaman - but Kinnaman wasn't the first
name DC and Warner Brothers had in mind as the man to replace Hardy.Donnie Darko himself,
Jake Gyllenhaal, was the first man approached after Hardy walked away, but he opted not
to follow in the footsteps of his older sister Maggie in appearing in a superhero movie.
No specific reason has come out about why Gyllenhaal didn't want to be Rick Flagg, but
it's been made very clear that he absolutely didn't.
Rose McGowan Rose McGowan is a little different to the
other actors on this list.
She never turned down a specific role in the superhero genre, but she did go one step further
- she quit acting completely because of the fact that superhero movies had taken over
Hollywood.
The star of Scream, Planet Terror and Machete is obviously not a fan of the genre and would
never get involved in a movie that was a part of it.
McGowan took to Instagram to vent her frustration on the subject, saying that she didn't want
"green goblins and tight outfits" and expressing her wishes for films to include more women,
become more complex, become deeper and become human again.
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