Some random but interesting facts about Comic book films/TV

[elgaz]

I can be a bit of a human sponge for information at times, so I love picking up random facts like this from IMDB, Wikipedia and various other sources. Amazing to think how wrong (or how right) some of the decisions made before these shows/films aired were ......................... and what might have been. Feel free to add your own!



The Incredible Hulk - TV Series (70s/80s)
- Arnold Schwarzenegger auditioned for the Hulk role, but was rejected due to his height
- 7ft+ Richard Kiel (Jaws in the older 007 films) played the Hulk for 1.5 weeks, and appears briefly in the pilot. He was replaced by 6"6 Lou Ferrigno after a director's young son mentioned that he didn't look big enough (in terms of muscle, not height) to be the Hulk
- The show's producer and writer wanted the Hulk to be red, signifying the colour of 'rage'. However Stan Lee objected to this
- Stan Lee and Jack Kirby both made cameo appearances in the TV series

Superman - Movie (1978)
- Clint Eastwood was briefly considered for the role of Superman, as was Al Pacino, Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Dustin Hoffman and James Caan
- Steven Spielberg was offered the chance to direct the film, but was considered too expensive
- Sylvester Stallone lobbied hard for the role of Clark Kent/Superman, but was vetoed by Marlon Brando, who had casting approval written into his contract.
- Jeff East, who played the young Clark Kent, had all his lines dubbed over by Christopher Reeve for consistency. His real voice is never heard in the film.
- It was Marlon Brando's idea to have Jor-El wear the same "S" symbol on his clothes that Kal-El would later wear as Superman

Batman - (1989)
- 50,000 protest letters were sent to WB about Michael Keaton's casting as Bruce Wayne/Batman
- Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Selleck, Alec Baldwin, Tom Cruise and Bill Murray were all considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman
- Michael Jackson was asked to write and perform songs for the movie, but couldn't do it due to prior commitments. Prince got the deal instead
- Michael Keaton was unable to hear whilst wearing the batsuit, but felt the claustrophobia helped him to play the character better and enhance the isolation Wayne felt
- Producer Jon Peters initially wanted to use Nike product placement when designing the batsuit

Spiderman - (2002)
- James Cameron wrote a treatment for this film over the years as the rights to the character jumped between companies. Nearly all of his ideas were scrapped except for the biological web shooters
- Several Spider-Man costumes were created at a cost of up to $100,000 each. Four were stolen from the set in early April of 2001 and Columbia Pictures posted a $25,000 reward for their return. The costumes were not returned
- The scene in which Peter Parker catches Mary Jane's lunch on the tray involved no CGI. With the help of a sticky substance to keep the tray planted on his hand, Tobey Maguire eventually (after many takes) performed the stunt exactly as seen
- Scenes of New Yorkers throwing trash at the Green Goblin and Spider-Man perched alongside the American flag were added after 11 September 2001 to reflect the city's sense of unity and patriotism

 

[Max J Power]

-Paul Newman was also considered for the role of Superman. Donner decided he wanted an unknown actor because he didn't want the audience to be thinking about the fact that Superman was a famous actor while they were watching.
-Other actors considered for Batman in the '89 movie: John Cusack, Jeff Bridges, Harrison Ford, Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Hanks. All these were on IMDb trivia, so they may not all be correct.
-Not a comic book film series, but still interesting: Kevin McClory, who co-wrote Thunderball and got Never Say Never Again made, wanted to do another remake of Thunderball in the '90s called Warhead 2000 A.D. with either Timothy Dalton or Liam Neeson playing James Bond.

 

[elgaz]

Hmm, 90s Neeson as Bond. That would have been interesting. He's shown that he can do the deadly assassin type thing quite well in Taken.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

- Joel Schumacher decided to cast George Clooney after drawing a bat-mask over a photograph of him, in hindsight, probably not the best way to go about casting.

- Christain Bale was originally the studio's first choice to play Batman in the reboot, but after the commercial failure of Reign of Fire and Equilibrium, the studio decided against him being cast. They eventually capitulated, presumably due to fan demand, and Christopher Nolan's wishes.

- Apparently, casting Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes was the only stipulation WB had for Nolan when signing him on as director.

- Marvel movies so far have had a couple of references to Dc characters, 'Batman' in the '89 Punisher, a couple of 'Superman' refs in Spider-man, but there has never been a ref to a Marvel character in a DC movie.

- The old guy who plays Robert Vaughn's butler in Superman III, is also seen working in the Daily Planet in one of the previous movies in a non-speaking role. I think I may be the only person on earth who has noticed this, as it is just a fleeting glimpse you get of him.

- Warren Beatty refused to wear a prosthetic hooked nose to get the cb look of Dick Tracy.

 

[Guhndoi]

X-Men (2000)

Some casting trivia

- Bryan Singer's first choice to play Wolverine was Russell Crowe, but he turned it down when he was denied a higher fee. Aaron Eckhart, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Viggo Mortensen and Edward Norton were considered for the role (Eckhart and Norton would appear in 2008 unrelated superhero films). Keanu Reeves and Gary Sinise were the studio's preferred choices for the role. Dougray Scott was cast, but he had to drop out due to schedule conflicts with Mission: Impossible II. Finally a relatively unknown actor, Hugh Jackman, was cast as Wolverine.
- Edward Burns was considered for the part of Cyclops. D.B. Sweeney auditioned for the role (he has a cameo in the film as a police officer). Thomas Jane turned down the role (Jane went on to play The Punisher alongside Rebecca Romijn). Eric Mabius' and Vince Vaughn were interested in the role. Jim Caviezel was cast as Cyclops, but he had to drop out due to schedule conflicts with Frequency and was finally replaced with James Marsden.
- In 1997, Angela Bassett and Janet Jackson were approached to play Storm, and later Jada Pinkett Smith was in consideration for the role.
- Jeri Ryan was in the running for Mystique.
- Both Maria Bello and Lucy Lawless were considered for the role of Jean Grey .Peta Wilson was offered the role, but had to film the fourth season of "La Femme Nikita" (1997-2001) (TV)_ instead.
- WWE wrestler Kevin Nash was offered the role of Sabretooth, but he turned it down due to schedule conflicts.
__________

Others I found interesting

- In 1996, Michael Chabon wrote a draft of the script: the X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Gray, Beast, Iceman, Storm, Nightcrawler and new members Wolverine and Jubilee) would face off against a phantom menace (the Brotherhood, who wouldn't reveal themselves until the sequel), with major focus on the relationship between Wolverine and Jubilee.
- In the Hamilton location (the train station scenes), the director, Bryan Singer, was mistaken for an onlooker, and was harassed by a policeman, not letting him join the production team for some moments.
- The scene in the train station where a young boy smiles at Cyclops and he smiles back was unplanned. The boy was a huge X-Men fan, and Cyclops was his favorite. The scene originally called for Cyclops to look at the train schedule, but according to Bryan Singer the boy could not stop smiling at James Marsden. Finally, during one shot, Marsden just looked back at him and smiled, much to the boy's delight. Bryan Singer liked the idea so much, he kept it in the film, and told the actress playing the boy's mother to react the way she did.
- Terence Stamp, David Hemblen and Sir Christopher Lee were considered for the role of Magneto. Ultimately Bryan Singer chose Sir Ian McKellen for the role, who had acted in Singer's previous film Apt Pupil and as an activist for gay rights understood the role well: "Ian responded to the allegory of mutants as outsiders, disenfranchised and alone and coming to all that at puberty when their differences manifest."
- The Mansion used as the Xavier school, is the same one Billy and his family lived in in Billy Madison
- In 1996, Brett Ratner was considered to direct this film. Ten years later he would direct X-Men: The Last Stand.
- David Hayter: The writer appears as one of the cops near the end.
- Gary Goddard: The director of Masters of the Universe is one of the men watching Senator Kelly emerge from the ocean. Singer and Goddard are good friends, and before production, Singer sought out Goddard's advice on directing "a comic book movie."

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

Conan was selling as many comics as Spider-man back in the 70s, so is it ok to include some Conan triva?

- If Conan the Destroyer had not been so crap, we would never have had Die Hard as we know it.
Because he was so disapointed with Conan the Destroyer, Arnie refused to do a sequel to Commando, which was to be based on the novel Die Hard was adapted from.

- latest Conan Jason Mamoa got his first acting job for Baywatch by bsing his way through the interview. He worked in a surfer equipement shop by the beach, heard they were having auditions for Baywatch locally, got his friend to take some pics of him, and bs-ed his way into the job by claiming he was a professional model and actor, when he had no experience of either.

 

[gwynplaine]

A little bit of European Comic Book films related trivia:

_ Fellini always wanted to do to do a "Mandrake the Magician" movie with Marcello Mastroiani in the titular character. The project came close to seeing the light of the day but unfortunately it never happened. Later on Nicholas Roeg tried his hand at it with David Bowie as Mandrake, but also failed.

_ The title character of "Blueberry", the legendary French Comic Book by Charlier and Giraud (aka and better known in the US as Moebius) was modeled after French Movie Star Jean Paul Belmondo ("Breathless" etc.) Which is obvious when you read the books.
Later on the film was made with Vincent Cassel in the lead and is to this day probably one of the worst Comic Book Films ever made.

_ Besson pillaged and stole from the Moebius and Jodorowski "Incal" Series for his inferior movie (to the original source) "The 5th Element." He would have been better off just adapting the comics as is.

 

[Guhndoi]

- If Conan the Destroyer had not been so crap, we would never have had Die Hard as we know it.
Because he was so disapointed with Conan the Destroyer, Arnie refused to do a sequel to Commando, which was to be based on the novel Die Hard was adapted from.

Reading things like this, makes you kinda glad and sad at the same time.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

_ Besson pillaged and stole from the Moebius and Jodorowski "Incal" Series for his inferior movie (to the original source) "The 5th Element." He would have been better off just adapting the comics as is.

Maybe I am mistaken but Moebius was hired as designer on the 5th Element wasn't he ?
I also doubt that the Incal series could be condensed in one movie.

 

[gwynplaine]

Maybe I am mistaken but Moebius was hired as designer on the 5th Element wasn't he ?
I also doubt that the Incal series could be condensed in one movie.

True on both accounts. I just wish Besson had just adapted the 1st one L'Incal Lumiere or L'Incal Noir (I don't remember the exact title) which he lifted a lot of things from.

 

[Max J Power]

X-Men (2000)

- In 1996, Michael Chabon wrote a draft of the script: the X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Gray, Beast, Iceman, Storm, Nightcrawler and new members Wolverine and Jubilee) would face off against a phantom menace (the Brotherhood, who wouldn't reveal themselves until the sequel), with major focus on the relationship between Wolverine and Jubilee.

I'd want to see that get made. Chabon is one of my favorite authors.

 

[Mace Dolex]

- Reading through an old Comics Scene magazine other actors considered for Joker in 1989 were Ray Liotta, Willem Dafoe, James Woods.

- Margot Kidder made it known her dislike for how the Salkinds fired Richard Donner off Superman II and the Salkinds in retaliation shrank her role to two scenes for Superman III.

 

[gwynplaine]

- Reading through an old Comics Scene magazine other actors considered for Joker in 1989 were Ray Liotta, Willem Dafoe, James Woods.

- Margot Kidder made it known her dislike for how the Salkinds fired Richard Donner off Superman II and the Salkinds in retaliation shrank her role to two scenes for Superman III.

They would all have been better than Nicholson and so would have Christopher Walken too back then.

 

[elgaz]

- Reading through an old Comics Scene magazine other actors considered for Joker in 1989 were Ray Liotta, Willem Dafoe, James Woods.

- Margot Kidder made it known her dislike for how the Salkinds fired Richard Donner off Superman II and the Salkinds in retaliation shrank her role to two scenes for Superman III.

I'd loved to have seen Dafoe as Joker.

 

[gwynplaine]

Yeah, I would have loved to see Dafoe as The Joker too.
And also Christopher Walken, James Woods, Donald Sutherland, Malcolm McDowell, Anthony Perkins, Klaus Kinski, John Cassavetes and Jack Nicholson (Circa "The Shining) as well.

 

[Mace Dolex]

Does Star Trek fit into this categoy, they're have been ST comics and stuff?

Well anyways in Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country Kim Cattral (when she was young and hot) plays a Vulcan in the film, and the rumor goes that she posed for a men's magazine on the Enterprise bridge which enfuriated Leonard Nimoy, anyone know if this is true?

 

[flower]

-Christian Bale auditioned for Robin in Batman & Robin

-Kate Hudson was offered the part of Mary Jane in Spider-Man, but turned it down

-Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard both played Gwen Stacy in different Spider-Man series and they both were in The Help together

-Cillian Murphy auditioned for the part of Batman in Batman Begins and Nolan liked him, just not for the part of Batman so he cast him as Scarecrow

 

[The Joker]

Nolan originally offered the part of Batman to Heath Ledger but he turned it down.

 

[Max J Power]

-Men in Black (remember, the first one is an adaptation of a short-lived comic) was originally slated to star Clint Eastwood and Chris O'Donnell as J and K.
-At some point, Glenn Danzig was invited to audition to play Wolverine in an X-Men movie. I'm not sure if that was the 2000 X-Men movie or an earlier attempt that didn't come to fruition.
-Terry Gilliam was attached to direct a Watchmen movie in 1991 but he thought the book was unfilmable and left the project. Between that and Warner Bros. not having the budget they needed, the Watchmen movie was scrapped. The producers didn't even try again until 2001.

 

[kedrell]

-In Superman: The Movie, apparently Brando wanted to play Jor-El after death as a talking bagel or an animated suitcase.

 

[gwynplaine]

Nolan originally offered the part of Batman to Heath Ledger but he turned it down.

I forgot about that. Very interesting, especially considering how Batman and the Joker sometimes feel like two sides of the same coin, in TDK in particular (no Two-Face pun intended) And watching "American Psycho", Bale could have probably portrayed an interesting Joker as well, but I'm happy with how it turned out.
The 1st name I heard about in relation to the Joker casting in TDK was Sean Penn? Was he really considered, does anyone have any info on that?

 

[The Joker]

I think the Sean Penn thing was just unfounded rumor. I have the making of The Dark Knight trilogy book, and Nolan claims Heath was his first choice.

 

[Senator Pleasury]

-Christian Bale auditioned for Robin in Batman & Robin

I heard this a lot, only that it was for Batman forever. But I also read an interview where Bale himself denied this rumor. I wish I could find that link.

-In Superman: The Movie, apparently Brando wanted to play Jor-El after death as a talking bagel or an animated suitcase.

I heard the same, only that not "after death." But I could be wrong. I think Brando said he imagined an alien would look like a bagel.

 

[kedrell]

To be fair, I assumed the after death part.

 

[gwynplaine]

I think the Sean Penn thing was just unfounded rumor. I have the making of The Dark Knight trilogy book, and Nolan claims Heath was his first choice.

Cool, thanks for the info