9) Will Smith
After the death of Superman Lives, Warner Bros. knocked around several different versions of a new Superman movie, with each of them intending to be radical departure from what had come before. One of these ideas was to rejuvenate the character be changing his skin tone. Will Smith was approached to become the Man of Tomorrow, which would have made him the first black actor in any medium to portray Superman.
However, he turned the role down. “The script came, and I was like, ‘There is no way I’m playing Superman!’” Smith explained. “Because I had already done Jim West [in Wild, Wild West], and you can’t be messing up white people’s heroes in Hollywood!”
8) Zac Efron
In a move that would have had comic book fans spontaneously combusting if it had come to pass, High School Musical star Zac Efron was allegedly approached to play Superman Back in 2010, it got around that the actor had turned down the part in an early version of what would become Man of Steel – and he did it on the advice of Leonardo DiCaprio.
According to an insider source from gossip site Surfme:
“Zac feels he’s very much following in the footsteps of Leo and respects his opinion. He didn’t turn Superman down because of him but Leo was unsure whether it would be the best move for him. It’s a massive franchise. Zac is now chasing more dramatic roles in independent movies.”
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