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MOVIE LEGEND: Tony Danza nearly replaced Christopher Reeve as Superman for Superman III.

One of the easiest Movie Legends to create is the classic "Actor X was almost cast as Character Y," since there is really so little to it that you need to get it into the popular consciousness. For instance, for the old legend about whether OJ Simpson was nearly cast as the Terminator, losing the gig only because no one bought him as a killer, a lot of that IS true, which is that James Cameron noted that, "This was when everybody loved him, and ironically that was part of the problem—he was this likable, goofy, kind of innocent guy. Plus, frankly I wasn’t interested in an African-American man chasing around a white girl with a knife. It just felt wrong." However, that's the reason why Cameron never even really CONSIDERED Simpson for the role, so he obviously was never "nearly cast" in the film.

That's the tricky part, as it is so simple to say that a producer "considered" you, and then that can be extrapolated to "he was nearly cast," but I think that what we're really talking about when we confirm or debunk one of these legends is that you need to at least get listed as a real possibility by the producers of the film. For instance, as I noted in an old legend about James Bond, Burt Reynolds was actually screen-tested at one point for James Bond, with producer Cubby Broccoli saying of Reynolds and fellow American actor, John Gavin, “either could handle the part, but I’ll make one more effort at signing an English actor before casting the role.” Gavin was then SIGNED for the role, but ultimately lost it when Sean Connery returned for one last Bond film for Broccoli (Connery, of course, would also later play Bond one last time for the "rogue" Bond production, Never Say Never Again). So I think you could fairly say "Burt Reynolds was nearly cast as James Bond," but, on the other hand, you COULDN'T say that Roger Moore was "nearly cast" for the first Eon Bond film, Dr. No, since he was only on a list of possible choices, and was never approached about the role (Moore was later said to have been Ian Fleming's choice for Bond, but the problem is that Ian Fleming has said that many different actors were his choice for Bond, many different times, to the point where it is a meaningless statement).

That, then, brings us to the question of - was Tony Danza nearly cast as Superman in Superman III?

In 1983, Tony Danza was nearing the end of his long-running role as boxer-turned-cab driver Tony Banta on the acclaimed TV sitcom, Taxi, and obviously Danza, as a former boxer in real life, had the physique to pull off being a superhero.

The legend, as noted on DC Movies Wiki (I note them only to cite SOMEone. This same information has been shared in multiple places. I'm not trying to single that site out), goes:

Christopher Reeve threatened not to return for this film, to protest Richard Donner's firing and because he hated the script. With the film already in pre-production, the producers scrambled to find an actor to play Superman. John Travolta was approached, but declined. Jeff Bridges and Kurt Russell were also considered, but they weren't interested. A few days before filming was set to begin, the Salkinds settled on Tony Danza as Clark Kent/Superman. Richard Lester was mortified with the casting of Danza, and pleaded for Reeve to return. Reeve eventually agreed, if he was allowed to change the script. The producers agreed.

Seems plausible enough, but is it true?

It is certainly true that Superman III had a hard time getting its script together. There had been SO many different variations of the plot for the film, with one even involving Supergirl being introduced as Superman's LOVE INTEREST (as I noted in this old Movie Legends Revealed). However messed up the script process was, though, it does not appear as though Reeve was ever anything but committed to the project, especially since Superman II was such a big hit.

In 2023, Ben Falk of Yahoo Movies talked to two of the producers on Superman III, executive producer Ilya Salkind and producer Pierre Spengler, about the rumor. Their response was:

“This is bulls***,” says Spengler. “Theoretically, Christopher had a contract for seven pictures. But as we all know you can bring the horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. He in the meantime had engaged a lawyer, who was also Richard Donner’s lawyer. He was a notoriously tough and difficult lawyer. He took a look at the agreement we had for seven pictures and tried to find holes in it… For Superman III there was a renegotiation of that original agreement, but it was a negotiation where both parties knew they had to agree something.”

“I don’t know where that came from,” agrees Salkind.

Reeve's contractual obligation for Superman III was announced in the Hollywood Reporter as early as 1981, so it is clear that there was never a point where he was OUT as Superman. It was just, as noted above, a case of Reeve negotiating with them for an improved deal after the success of the first two films. There was never any other actor "nearly cast" as Superman for the third film.

Therefore, the legend is...

STATUS: False

Be sure to check out my archive of Movie Legends Revealed for more urban legends about the world of film. Click here for more legends specifically about superhero films.

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