Sylvester Stallone

With his Rocky and Rambo movies hitting the theaters almost every other year, Sylvester Stallone proved to be one of the biggest names in Hollywood’s action genre in 1970s and 1980s. The actor was eager to play the role of DC superhero for the Salkinds but he actually never get a call, not even for an audition!

It is popularly believed that Sly Stallone couldn’t make it because of Marlon Brando’s interference over casting of Supe. Brando played the part of Jor-El, and Sly was totally out of his consideration. Well, mustn’t we thank Brando?

James Caan

In an interview with Howard Stern back in 2013, James Caan admitted that he was offered the role of the Salkinds’ Superman but he had passed it on. The veteran actor didn’t disclose the exact reason why he didn’t sign on for the project, but revealed some exciting details from the original script of the movie written by Mario Puzo.

It seems like the not-so-serious tone of that script might have stood against his taking up the role. However, after Richard Donner was hired, the script got polished by Tom Mankiewicz. Caan also claimed that Marlon Brando, too, had requested him to take the part. We don’t think we needed a better or worse Superman than Christopher Reeve – so we can be glad that he didn’t sign for the role!

One of the two actors on the next page is our latest Batman!