Nowadays, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most lucrative franchise of all times, with almost $9 billion after 12 movies (as a comparison, the long-living Bond franchise made a little more than $6 billion with 25 movies).

But, no matter how well is Marvel at the moment, there was a time when its characters didn't sell, with filmmakers trying and failing to bring some of the heroes to life. Here are those characters, those failed projects.

Quentin Tarantino and Luke Cage

Right after Tarantino made history with Reservoir Dogs, he was offered the chance to direct his first comic book movie. That was a time when superhero movies weren't a trend at all "“ still, the director was close to signing a deal, with the movie set to be a response to the blaxploitation films of the "˜70's.

And we know that Tarantino is the best at doing these types of movies. The guy is literally an encyclopedia of all the movies ever made!

For the role of the Marvel street-level superhero, Tarantino spoke with Laurence Fishburne, who was also enthusiast about the project. However, the director made Pulp Fiction instead, while Luke Cage is set to have his own Netflix series in 2016.

After leaving the Marvel project, Tarantino never came so close to directing a superhero movie again "“ though he did helm a small segment of Sin City.

On the next page, the Silver Surfer!