Clint Eastwood, the man, the myth, and the legend, who has arguably been the godfather of spaghetti Westerns and done more cop movies than any other actor in the genre is not your typical Hollywood gun-slinging action hero. The Eastwood name strikes enough awe in the heart of millions to know that the actor has been a legend in his own right and in his own time.
But upon turning to the actor to reveal some of his greatest hits and misses, some surprising information comes to light regarding his almost intro to the CBM universe and the reason for his outright denial.
Clint Eastwood Comes Clean About His Superman Days
Having seen the evolution of film and cinema over the course of his Hollywood career, one can rightly claim that Clint Eastwood might have some insights into the machinations of the industry and some insider knowledge from the yonder days that might even put Quentin Tarantino’s Cinema Speculations to shame.
But no such luck awaits the modern audience as The Man With No Name actor gleefully declares the two single-handedly greatest misses of his career, and without any remorse whatsoever.
“I can remember – and this was many years ago – when [Warner Bros. President] Frank Wells came to me about doing Superman. So, it could have happened. This was when they first started to think about making it. I was like, ‘Superman? Nah, nah, that’s not for me.’ Not that there’s anything wrong with it. It’s for somebody, but not me. The Sub-Mariner, now that’s the one I always liked. I had all of those comics when I was a kid.”
Hold your shock and pick your jaws up from the floor because the legendary Clint Eastwood who had redefined Hollywood machismo and made every single movie lover a fan of the paced, gritty, expansive, and pervasive Westerns was a comic-loving kid who not only appreciated the lores encapsulated within these graphic novels but had a favorite of his own too.
Interestingly enough, Clint Eastwood would also go on to turn down films like Men In Black, a Batman Beyond live-action adaptation, and the James Bond franchise as the successor of Sean Connery.
Clint Eastwood’s Reservations About Starring in a CBM Role
Despite harboring an enviable collection of the Sub-Mariner comics published first during a time prior to Marvel establishing its undisputed dominance in the field, Clint Eastwood would not go on to pick up on an offer to star in the role of the comic universe’s greatest creation of all time: Superman. And his reasons for saying no were surprisingly honorable, considering the career that he had built for himself by then.
Commenting on how such a role manages to overshadow the entire career of an artist with such an ambitious role, he said:
“Look at Reeve, he was excellent. That was a big factor. You get a role like that, and it locks you in a bit. True, I had the Western genre and the Dirty Harry role, but everybody made Westerns and did cop movies; they didn’t seem as bad.
I always liked characters that were more grounded in reality. Maybe they do super things or more-than-human things – like Dirty Harry, he has a knack for doing crazy things, or the Western guys – but, still, they’re not caped crusaders.”
Also read: “It honestly affects us more”: MCU Boss Admits Not Having Namor Movie Rights is Hurting Disney
Some fifty years down the line, the comic book movie business is the biggest and the most obnoxiously fawned-over industry that has ever existed since the time of cinema. As for the Sub-Mariner, Namor is not only one of the first and arguably the strongest comic book characters to have ever been created, but also the first anti-hero in the history of these graphic novels.
Marvel’s Phase Four closer, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced the character in all his alarming and formidable glory as Tenoch Huerta not only swept up the audience the moment he ascended onto the screen but delivered one of Marvel’s most iconic anti-hero debut in its live-action history.
Source: MTV
