Here are nine stars and starlets who have expressed their hopes for superhero-dom - or supervillainy. Nicole Kidman The Aussie actress has actually appeared in a superhero film before. Can't remember which one? It was a while age. Nearly 20 years ago, Kidman played Bruce Wayne's love interest in Batman Forever (below, left) and told Yahoo! Movies how she was a bit jealous of Val Kilmer's Caped Crusader. "I remember going, I wish had more of a role, though. It's great being the girl in the Batman movie... But I'm an actor and you go, 'Gosh I want more to do.'"

She added, "I would still love to do some sort of superhero movie where I get to do the cool stuff." And recently Kidman proved she's up for the challenge, doing all her own stunts as the villain in Paddington - throwing knives, shooting tranquilizer guns and even dropping from ceilings on wires, Mission: Impossible-style. Tom Hanks The Academy Award winner was asked by a fan via Showbiz 411 why he hasn't been in a superhero movie yet. His answer? Because they simply don't ask him.

"I keep trying. Come on, I can do it," he said. "Even let me play a bad guy, let me play the bad guy against Batman. I'll do anything, call me. They've never asked." Hanks seemed pretty keen, but he is a good actor, so he could just be kidding around. "God, I want to throw a shield at somebody," he said. "And I don't want to play the guy in the suit who tells the superheroes what's going on... I want to get in there, I want to play The Flash or something like that. They'll never give me a chance."

Al Pacino While at the Venice Film Festival, the Scarface actor revealed he had recently seen Guardians of the Galaxy, telling media, "I did find it the most entertaining, inventive, beautiful film. So I'm not anti-that at all." And in December, Pacino confirmed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he had met with "the Marvel guy" aka Marvel Studio president Kevin Feige. "Its a Marvel how things happen ... I would imagine that either there's something he feels is right for me," he said, before being interrupted by a phone call, and joking it was probably Marvel telling him to keep quiet.

Emily Blunt Anyone who saw Edge of Tomorrow (below) knows Blunt can hold her own in an action flick, but Marvel were well aware of that years ago. They have actually offered the British actress not one, but TWO roles in the past - both of which she had to turn down because of scheduling conflicts. Blunt was asked to play Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (which went to Scarlett Johansson) and when that didn't work out, was offered the part of Peggy Carter in Captain America (Hayley Atwell was cast instead). Speculation is now abuzz online that Blunt is perfect to play Captain Marvel in the first female-led Marvel movie in 2018. Blunt told Vulture, "I think its fan-casting, which is always very nice. But nothing official has been offered, for sure."

Blunt has said she would definitely still consider playing a superhero, previously telling New York magazine: "I would love to do a comic-book movie or a science-fiction film that would scare the bejesus out of me." Jessica Chastain This Oscar-nominated actress is another one who's had to turn down roles in superhero flicks thanks to her demanding schedule. Chastain almost played scientist Maya Hansen in Iron Man 3 (which ended up going to Rebecca Hall) and has told The Guardian how she would have loved to have played Black Widow.

"I would love to do a superhero movie," she said. "A couple of times I've gotten really close. The problem is, if I do a superhero movie, I don't want to be the girlfriend. I don't want to be the daughter. I want to wear a f---ing cool costume with a scar on my face, with fight scenes. That's what I'd love." Another Captain Marvel contender, perhaps? Kristen Stewart

The Twilight actress is no stranger to blockbusters, having starred in the vampire saga as well as Snow White and the Huntsman with Aussie Chris Hemsworth, aka Thor (below). And even though she's been hitting up the smaller, dramatic flicks recently, with Camp X-Ray and opposite Oscar-nominated Julianne Moore in Still Alice, Stewart told Yahoo! Movies that she wouldn't mind joining the Marvel Universe. "I love watching those movies. I would love to show people that I can do more than just be 'Kristen Stewart' in a different movie, in a different circumstance ... I'm sure I could get on board with Captain America, you know what I mean?... It would just have to be the right thing." Keanu Reeves

OK, Reeves has actually played a comic book antihero - DC character Constantine in the 2005 movie (below). He's also starred in The Matrix and John Wick, which were both influenced by anime or graphic novels, but he's never been cast as one of those really iconic superheroes ... even though he wanted to be. "I always wanted to play Wolverine," Reeves told MovieFone. "But I didn't get that. And they have a great Wolverine now. I always wanted to play The Dark Knight. But I didn't get that one. They've had some great Batmans. So now I'm just enjoying them as an audience."

Joe Manganiello If you've seen Magic Mike, you know this guy certainly has the physique to play a superhero. In fact, he came very close to playing Superman in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. Unfortunately, he lost out to Henry Cavill, but Manganiello is still keen to tackle the genre - he just wants to make a version that's so deconstructed it blows everyone's mind. "There's so many superhero projects out there that its almost like they're becoming normal," he tells MTV. "So I want to do one that just flips it on its head and makes it crazy. I want to make the Fight Club of superhero movies."

Eddie Redmayne He's currently starring as one of the world's brightest brains, playing Dr Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, but this British actor says he wouldn't mind perhaps playing an evil mastermind one day. "I think those Marvel films like The Avengers - Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hiddleston are pals and they look like they have quite a lot of fun on there, so perhaps I could play some sort of weird English baddie," he said. The Oscar-nominated Redmayne told MTV he actually tested with "old pal" Andrew Garfield to play Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - a role he lost to Dane DeHaan.

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