Yep, Jude Law was considered for Superman and, oh yes, he went so far as to try on the costume. Well, wouldn’t you? The actor tells MTV’s Josh Horowitz that back in 2002 he was being courted to play the Man of Steel for director Brett Ratner. According to Law, the experience of trying on the costume was so powerful he could hear the famous John Williams score play in his head. For the full mental image, remember that 2002 Jude Law looked something like this:

So why did Law turn down the chance to don the red cape and blue tights in a movie? As he explains to Horowitz, he didn't want the burden of living up to Superman’s reputation. Get caught smoking a cigarette, he said, and you ruin the lives of children around the world.

It’s just as well that Law turned down the part, because this version of Superman never saw the light of day. It’s kind of incredible to imagine a Ratner-directed superhero film with a J.J. Abrams script not getting the go-ahead, but remember that this was just before the original Spider-Man, before Iron Man, and before Nolan and then Snyder’s lucrative runs at Batman and Superman made superhero movies prolific enough to be an awards-season punch line. But, purportedly, this version had Superman returning from the dead to fight Lex Luthor who is also secretly Kryptonian. Perhaps it’s best for all of us (and particularly Jude Law) this is will always be the Superman that never was.