Steven Spielberg Was Offered The Chance To Launch Superhero Cinema As We Know It

Steven Spielberg is a man who needs no introduction. With his career spanning six decades, his films' impact on the industry and in modern popular culture cannot be overstated. From the biggest blockbusters such as "Jaws" and "Jurassic Park" to the smaller character-driven films such as "The Color Purple" and most recently, "The Fabelmans," fewer filmmakers have accomplished his level of influence in so many genres of cinema. With 23 Oscar nominations and 3 wins, and a filmography that has grossed $10.7 billion at the global box office making him the highest-grossing film director of all-time, there is almost nothing he cannot accomplish.

In his decorated career, Steven Spielberg has also had his share of unrealized projects. One of those projects includes an adaptation of the sci-fi novel "Robopocalypse," which was to be written by "Cabin in the Woods" co-writer/director Drew Goddard and had Chris Hemsworth and Anne Hathaway attached to star (not going to lie, this one is still a bummer). Spielberg has also been approached to direct other projects, including "Rain Man," which he was attached to direct before departing to fulfill his commitment to "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." Given his unprecedented range as a filmmaker, as well as his success with introducing audiences to the modern summer blockbuster with "Jaws," it is no wonder that one of his missed opportunities includes the chance to launch superhero cinema as we know it today.

In late 1974, Ilya Salkind, his father Alexander Salkind, and their business partner Pierre Spengler purchased the film rights to "Superman." Numerous filmmakers who were approached to direct the project included Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin, Sam Peckinpah, George Lucas, Richard Lester (who would direct the following two sequels), and, of course, Steven Spielberg.

At that time, Steven Spielberg was busy with "Jaws," which became a lynchpin moment in cinematic history and popularized blockbuster cinema. Ilya Salkind revealed in an interview with Superman Homepage that not only did he look to Spielberg to be at the helm of bringing America's original superhero to the big screen, but that Spielberg himself was eager to make the film too.

"Spielberg was really in the beginning," Salkind said. "He absolutely wanted to make the film [...] At the time, Spielberg was still working on 1975's 'Jaws' and was largely an unknown. His representation called Salkind repeatedly in Paris." According to Salkind, they told him:

"We have this kid who wants to direct 'Superman', he loves Superman, that's his kind of stuff and he wants to do it.' Of course, I immediately checked what he had done and went to see his films and immediately said, 'Okay, this kid's got it – this guy's got talent.' And I went to my father, and I said 'Look this is the guy.'"

Hot off the critical and commercial success with "Jaws," the "Superman" producers offered Steven Spielberg the directing job. Unfortunately, this was not meant to be, because Spielberg was already committed to the 1977 sci-fi film, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Eventually, Richard Donner was hired to helm "Superman: The Movie," and the rest is Hollywood history.

Although Steven Spielberg missed out on the opportunity to kickstart superhero cinema as we know it today by passing on "Superman: The Movie," he would eventually take a crack at adapting comic books to the big screen with his severely underrated animated film, "The Adventures of Tintin," which was based on the "Tintin" comic book series from Hergé. Spielberg is also a fan of superhero cinema as a whole, praising the likes of Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy, Jon Favreau's first "Iron Man" film, and James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy," which he claims to be most impressed by.

Fittingly, Steven Spielberg is also a fan of the one that got away: "Superman: The Movie." Although he passed on the opportunity to tell the first full-length cinematic story for Kal-El, he would eventually collaborate with the film's director, Richard Donner, on the 1980s cult classic, "The Goonies." Sure, it is fun to imagine how different the current state of superhero cinema would be if Spielberg was at the helm of "Superman: The Movie," but he already has plenty of accomplishments under his belt, and thankfully, Donner's film remains such a vital piece of cinematic history, that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige watches the film before starting work on every MCU film, citing it as the true blueprint for quality superhero filmmaking.