Actor and comedian Chris Rock has spoken about missing out on playing Jimmy Olsen in the infamous Superman Lives project. One of the most notable cinematic projects to never make it past the advancement phase, the film’s cancellation even inspired a 2015 documentary The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened? by director Jon Schnepp. Planned to be coordinated by Batman’s Tim Burton, the film was slated to star Nicolas Cage as Clark Kent, and Christopher Walken was supposed to tackle the job of the film’s antagonist, Brainiac.
All the more as of late, Rock, who had been cast as the Daily Planet’s photojournalist Jimmy Olsen, revealed his frustrations in never getting his chance to star in a superhero film. According to Yahoo! Entertainment in a new roundtable interview with John Boyega, Regé-Jean Page, Josh O’Connor, and Jonathan Majors, Rock pondered the scrapped project and being “this close” to starring in a blockbuster DC property. Look at his full comments beneath:
“I was cast in Superman 20 years ago, when Nic Cage was going to play Superman. I was cast; I had wardrobe fittings. I saw the miniature sets, and I was hanging out with [director] Tim [Burton], and the entire thing self-destructed. There’s a part of me that resembles, where’s my superhero movie? I was this close.”
Of course with the sheer volume of superhero projects at present being pushed through by both Warner Bros. and Marvel Studios, perhaps there may be a chance for Rock to finally have his chance at working on a superhero film after all. With various Superman projects already not too far off, including a new film being created by J.J. Abrams, as well as a HBO Max series helmed by Michael B. Jordan, there may still be opportunities for Rock to get very close with the Man of Steel. Perhaps then, at that point, the sour taste left by the cancellation of Superman Lives may finally be washed away.