There are quite a few versions of live-action Superman that we know and love. Whether it is Henry Cavill, Christopher Reeve, or even Nicolas Cage, all these actors and more have given their own unique touch to Kal-El. Soon, we’ll get to see David Corenswet’s portrayal too. However, did you know that there was a time when action legend Sylvester Stallone almost played the superhero?
That’s right, if things went a different way, the iconic Superman (1978) would have had Sylvester Stallone flying around as Superman and not Christopher Reeve. While that didn’t work out in his favor, Sylvester Stallone’s dream to play a character in the superhero world eventually came through thanks to Kevin Feige, the President of the Marvel Studios.
How Sylvester Stallone Almost Became Superman
Superman (1978) is an iconic addition to the expansive franchise of Superman and part of why it was so successful is the late Christopher Reeve’s incredible performance as the lead man. The film has an insane score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, back when Reeve hadn’t been cast in the film, the director reached out to Sylvester Stallone for the part. Why? Well, while director Richard Donner was fine with casting an unknown as Superman, producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind wanted a popular name.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, Donner stated,
“We had a great casting director [Lynn Stalmaster]. He would put many, many people together. But the Salkinds wanted a name. I met with Sylvester Stallone because of them. I tried to be nice and say, ‘This is wrong.’ I liked Stallone; he turned out to be a nice guy. He wanted to do it. I remember meeting him in his manager’s office and I was as cordial as I could be. He was a big star and I’m some punk kid.”
Despite the fact that Stallone was absolutely into the role, things just didn’t work out. The studio took a chance on Reeve and it ended up working in the film’s favour.
Marvel Made Sylvester Stallone’s Superhero Dream Come True
Having played a ton of brutal characters in his life, Stallone was down to do something different, something new. This is where Marvel boss Kevin Feige comes in. In an interview with Vulture, Feige opened up about Stallone playing Stakar Ogord aka Starhawk in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.
“This is a man who’s bright and has achieved almost everything there is to achieve in Hollywood, and he’s talking about how excited he is to be a part of Marvel and see something new. It’s surreal, and very cool of him to say.”
Despite the fact that he did not have much screen time in the film, Stallone didn’t need much convincing to be a part of the franchise. In fact, after making his debut in Vol. 2, he recently reprised his role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
As for why Stallone was so eager to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he stated during a press conference,
“When Kevin invited me onboard I said, ‘This is interesting because I haven’t gone here,’ so I mean, I’m kind of earthbound, I’m terrestrial. You know what I mean? This is something that takes place in a whole other sphere where James [Gunn] and the Marvel people have created their own world, their own reality. So I said, yeah, let me visit. Let me drop in here and see what’s up, it’s where the future’s going, you know, and it was great.”
Stallone was perfect in the film as Stakar. It does make us wonder what he would have been like as Superman if the creators actually went with him instead of Reeve.
You can stream Superman on Max.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
