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11 Actors You Didn’t Know Nearly Played Superman

Come this October, Teen Wolf star Tyler Hoechlin will play Superman in a guest spot on Supergirl. In doing so, he will join the long line of actors who have donned the red cape of the Kryptonian hero on the small and silver screens.

11) Nicolas Cage

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Let’s start with the most famous almost-Superman ever. After the success of his Batman movies, Tim Burton was hired to helm a Superman reboot, Superman Lives. Despite the film going through several redrafts from different writers (including Kevin Smith) and a release date planned for 1998, the project eventually disintegrated. Nevertheless, Burton did hire his (peculiar) choice for the Man of Steel when the film was still operational – and it was none other than self-confessed comic book fan Nicolas Cage.

Though he didn’t get to shoot any material, Cage did attend several costume fittings. As you can see, he would have sported a mullet and a more metallic outfit. We’ve no idea how the actor would have fared in the role, but his casting has become the stuff of movie legend ever since.