The MCU Star Who Almost Played Hal Jordan In Green Lantern

Bradley Cooper has been forthcoming in interviews over the years about why he didn't end up with the role of Hal Jordan, even telling Conan O'Brien on "The Tonight Show" how he inadvertently sabotaged his audition. "I couldn't not do Christian Bale's Batman," he told O'Brien. "I don't know what it was! I put a mask on and the director was like, 'Okay Bradley, be regular and talk.' And I was like, 'Yeah, got it...'" (via MTV).

Cooper may not have gotten the role of the DC superhero, but a few years later, he was offered the role of a different kind of superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As the ornery, witty, genetically engineered Rocket Raccoon in James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy," Cooper has had fun changing his voice to fit the character, even if everyone at Marvel was a fan. James Gunn recalled on his Twitter page that one executive asked, "Why did we pay money for Bradley Cooper if he doesn't even sound like Bradley Cooper!?" Gunn wrote, "I was like, we hired him because he's a great ACTOR. That's the point! He's creating a character!"

Cooper remarked to MTV that if he were directing "Green Lantern," he "would cast him [Reynolds]. He's perfect. He actually looks like a superhero." Whether Ryan Reynolds would concur after all the backlash he's received over the years is uncertain, but it's interesting to think of a world in which Cooper could've been Hal Jordan.