So it really is amazing to see how close we came to seeing ...

It doesn't matter how much you love superhero movies, you have to admit Hollywood is getting close to running out of superheroes to adapt. That's what happens when you release five or six of them every summer. And what's even more amazing is that for every one that got made, there are countless more that died in development because they didn't meet Hollywood's high, high standards.

5 Tim Burton's Superman Lives

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Say what you will about Tim Burton, but he did give us two solid Batman pictures that helped the character move away from the campy ghost of the Adam West show (before Joel Schumacher ruined everything again). In the 90s, Warner Bros. hoped Burton would repeat the trick with Superman, and then they hired Kevin Smith to write a screenplay for him. What could possibly go wrong?

So What Was Wrong With It?

Via leagueofcomicgeeks.com

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Look at it, kids. Take it allll in. WE SAID LOOK AT IT.

Yes, that's a long-haired Nicolas Cage dressed as Superman while posing for a police mugshot, apparently. The authenticity of that picture has been disputed, but the fact remains: Nicolas Cage had, at one point, signed up to play Superman ... and he got frighteningly close to actually doing it.

There are several stages to a movie. This is the "super happy rave party costume" stage.

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In truth, Cage's involvement is only the tip of a very large iceberg. As we mentioned, Kevin Smith was brought in to write the screenplay, but he had to work with the ridiculous conditions imposed by producer Jon Peters: Superman could not be seen flying, couldn't wear the classic costume (Peters insisted on a black suit) and somehow, someway, had to fight a giant spider at the end. What was the reasoning behind changing Superman's costume, you ask? Peters thought the classic blue-and-red outfit looked "too faggy."