10 Actors and Actresses We Can’t Stop Trying to Cast as Superheroes

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5. Leonardo DiCaprio

Though Christian Bale was a respected actor with plenty of fans pre-Batman Begins, one of the reasons he worked so well as the Dark Knight is because he wasn’t a household name prior to being cast as Batman. This would not be the case for Leonardo DiCaprio. Being a Christopher Nolan go-to guy, DiCaprio’s name was tossed around as possibly portraying The Riddler, or any number of Bat villains, in a Batman film.

If Leo was cast in such a role, it would have been hard to pull off. Everyone would see ‘DiCaprio in a Riddler suit’, not just ‘The Riddler’ as a character. Also, no director is going to cast Leonardo DiCaprio and pay him top dollar just to hide his face behind a mask for 2/3 of the film (which is also the inherent problem with casting Ryan Reynolds as a properly disfigured Deadpool).

4. Johnny Depp

For a time, it seemed like every fanboy with a pulse was casting Johnny Depp as The Riddler (at this point, who hasn’t been cast as The Riddler?). When Johnny went on record back in 2008 saying “It’d be a fun gig” everyone annointed him a Bat villain in waiting. The Depp fantasy casting has hit a downturn, but it should serve as a prime example of a “sure thing” that never came to be.

3. Nathan Fillion

It just seems to make sense, right? Nathan Fillion is a fanboy himself, he’s starred in Joss Whedon-directed projects, he voices Green Lantern (among others) in animated features. Let’s cast him as a superhero!

A quick Google search of ‘Nathan Fillion casting rumors’ finds him attached to The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars Episode VII, the Man of Steel sequel, and others. Fillion remains commited to Castle, and has gone on record saying that his filming schedule for the show prohibits him from taking on a major movie role. Hoowever, don’t give up hope, fantasy Fillion casters- he has implied that in the future he would be game for a comic book-based role.

2. Armie Hammer

In 2007, filmmaker George Miller had supposedly cast Armie Hammer as Batman in his undeveloped adaptation Justice League: Mortal. After appearing as twins in The Social Network, Armie Hammer’s name was attached to every rumored Justice League project that surfaced. He was ultimately cast as The Lone Ranger, which underperformed enough to pump the brakes on handing Hammer the cape and cowl, but many fans still hold out hope that he’ll one day join a superteam in some capacity.

1. Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is as talented an actor and filmmaker as they come, and over the last half-decade he has exhibited his wide range, with a definite ability to carry a film as an action star. The ending of The Dark Knight Rises left many salivating at the thought of Gordon-Levitt defending Gotham City as a masked superhero, but when Christopher Nolan definitively slammed the door on any future films starring JGL in that role, the world commenced casting him as every other available superhero.

Gordon-Levitt’s name has been attached to Doctor Strange, and he was recently rumored as the star of Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man, although as time wears on it appears the role belongs to Paul Rudd. He also had to go on record earlier this year to deny being cast as Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy, a role ultimately won by Chris Pratt.

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