Who played the role: Brandon Routh
Josh Hartnett told Details magazine he was once in contention to play nearly every big superhero but wasn't interested in any of them.
"Spider-Man was something we talked about," Hartnett said. "Batman was another one. But I somehow knew those roles had potential to define me, and I didn't want that. I didn't want to be labeled as Superman for the rest of my career. I was maybe 22, but I saw the danger."
In a 2015 interview with Playboy, Hartnett recently said he regretted passing up on some of the roles, including one in Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins."
"I should have been part of the relationship with this guy Nolan, who I felt was incredibly cool and very talented,” he said. “I was so focused on not being pigeonholed and so scared of being considered only one thing as an actor. I should have thought, ‘Well, then, work harder, man’”. Watching Christian Bale go on to do so many other things has been just awesome. I mean, he’s been able to overcome that. Why couldn’t I see that at the time?”