• "Avengers: Endgame" is available on digital HD Tuesday and "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn is having fun sharing some behind-the-scenes footage of his brother from the set of the sequel. 
• Gunn shared a short three-second clip on Twitter showing the Avengers gathering together to save the world. But you'll want to keep your eye on one of the stars who is walking while crouched low to the ground. 
• That's Gunn's brother, Sean. While Bradley Cooper may voice Rocket Racoon, Sean Gunn has acted out Rocket's movements and facial expressions since 2014's "GotG" alongside his brother. 
• If you've never seen a behind-the-scenes photo of Sean Gunn on set, you may not have realized that Rocket isn't just CGI. Gunn usually wears a blue or green unitard to bring the character to life. 
• "Contrary to popular belief, he's not a stand-in as much of Rocket's acting and facial expressions are Sean's," wrote James Gunn. "And yes it's hilarious every time."
• The "Avengers: Endgame" Blu-ray and DVD will be available Tuesday, August 13. You can watch the short clip below.

Join the conversation about this story »

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• The number of superhero movies has inflated rapidly in the past two decades.
• Multiple actors have played the same Marvel and DC characters in prequels, reboots, and after re-casts.
• Here are 50 examples of that overlap.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.
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Superheroes have always captured our imaginations, but in the past two decades, their stories are being told onscreen in unprecedented numbers.

Thanks to the superhero movie renaissance, multiple actors have been cast as the same Marvel and DC characters in a variety of movies, including prequels and reboots. Various TV networks have also gotten in on the fun, particularly The CW's"Arrowverse."

Here are 50 notable examples of that overlap.

Michael Keaton played Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton's "Batman" (1989) and "Batman Returns" (1992).

Keaton refused to return for a third Batman film because it "wasn't any good."

"[The film] just wasn't any good, man,"he told The Guardian. "I tried to be patient, but after a certain point, I was like, 'I can't take this any more, this is going to be horrible.'"

"But, look," he continued, "there was some really horrible taste in the '90s, and I probably contributed to that, unfortunately."

Val Kilmer played the caped crusader in "Batman Forever" (1995).

"Batman Forever" was the final film in Tim Burton's trilogy, even though it was helmed by a different director and Kilmer replaced Keaton as the titular hero.

George Clooney became Batman for the 1997 film "Batman & Robin."

He's since admitted that he "screwed it up" and even advised Ben Affleck not to take the role.

"I wasn't good in it and it wasn't a good film," he said on The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" Podcast.

Christian Bale played Batman in the "Dark Knight" trilogy.

Bale launched his turn as Bruce Wayne with "Batman Begins" in 2005. He reprised the role for "The Dark Knight" in 2008 and "The Dark Knight Rises" in 2012.

Most recently, Ben Affleck played Batman in "Batman v Superman" (2016) and "Justice League" (2017).

In early 2019, Affleck told Jimmy Kimmel that he planned to officially hang up his cape.

"I tried to direct a version of it and worked with a really good screenwriter, but just couldn't come up with a version, I couldn't crack it," Affleck said. "So I thought it was time to let someone else take a shot at it. They got some really good people, so I'm excited."

Robert Pattinson has been confirmed as the next Batman on the big screen.

Warner Bros. confirmed that Pattinson will star in a new Batman series, helmed by director Matt Reeves and expected to hit theaters in 2021.

Lynda Carter famously portrayed Wonder Woman on the '70s TV series.

Carter, who was crowned Miss World United States in 1972, saw her acting career (and cultural impact) skyrocket when she was cast as the titular hero on ABC's "Wonder Woman." The show moved to CBS for its second and third seasons, rechristened "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman."

"'Oh, women are gonna be so jealous of you,'"Carter said a CBS producer warned her. "Well, I said, 'Not a chance. They won't be, because I'm not playing her that way. I want women to want to be me, or be my best friend!'"

Carter later made a cameo in the 2005 film "Sky High" as the principal of a high school for superheroes: "I'm not Wonder Woman, you know," she quipped.

Adrianne Palicki wore the costume for a short time for a 2011 NBC pilot.

Palicki made a name for herself on the cult-favorite TV show "Friday Night Lights."

She scored the coveted Wonder Woman role on NBC's pilot, which was being produced by David E Kelley, the man behind shows such as "Boston Legal" and "Ally McBeal." Ultimately, NBC decided not to order the pilot to series.

"I was devastated when the pilot didn't go,"Palicki told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. "But I also look at it, like, I got paid to wear that costume. And that is one of the coolest moments of my life running down Hollywood Boulevard. Like, that was so cool. And I was -- how lucky am I."

Gal Gadot began playing Wonder Woman on the big screen in 2016, and is set to return in 2020.

Gadot made her onscreen debut as Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, in 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." She reprised the role in 2017 for "Justice League" and her own solo film, which was widely praised by critics and audiences alike.

Gadot has wrapped filming on her solo sequel, titled "Wonder Woman: 1984,"which is slated for a 2020 release.

Eric Bana starred in the 2003 film "Hulk."

"I'm fascinated by the people who hated that movie and feel compelled to watch it again, which always blows my mind,"Bana told HuffPost in 2013. "But, yeah, it is what it is and I certainly don't regret doing it."

He also said he considers himself "so lucky" that the film wasn't given a sequel.

Edward Norton launched Bruce Banner's story in the MCU with "The Incredible Hulk" (2008).

"The Incredible Hulk,"directed by Louis Leterrier, told the hero's origin story. Norton was set to reprise his role in subsequent MCU movies. But just before filming "The Avengers,"Marvel released a statement about dismissing Norton because they were looking for "an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members."

After his role was recast, Norton claimed that he had "wanted a better script."

Mark Ruffalo replaced Norton as the Hulk in "The Avengers" (2012) and continued the role until "Endgame" (2019).

While Ruffalo never starred in another solo Hulk film — and likely never will— he portrayed Bruce Banner and his green alter-ego in "The Avengers" (2012), "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015), "Thor: Ragnarok" (2017), "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018), and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019).

When he was cast in the role, Ruffalo told IGN that he was worried about "bringing some spark of originality and spontaneity to that character."

But after a slew of successful outings, on the verge of "Endgame's" release, Ruffalo praised the actors who came before him for building Hulk's story.

"Now I think it's about a kind of a maturity that comes to the character,"Ruffalo told Entertainment Weekly. "'Okay, it is what it is, so how do I live next to this in a way that I can still have a life? Maybe this monster is equally a part of me, and I can never really get rid of it.'"

Tobey Maguire played Peter Parker in the '00s "Spider-Man" trilogy.

Maguire was cast in the coveted role for the Sam Raimi-directed trilogy: "Spider-Man" (2002), "Spider-Man 2" (2004), and "Spider-Man 3" (2007).

"I know that some people think I'm not exciting enough or volatile enough for this kind of role, but I think that kind of criticism is absolutely off-base,"Maguire told Cinema.com before the first film was released. 

"Peter Parker is not a typical action hero," he continued. "He's probably the most down-to-earth, most carefully drawn, and least plastic of comic book figures. For me, it's a role that I knew that I could pull off without disappointing people. And once people see the movie, I think they'll come to the same conclusion. "

Andrew Garfield starred in "The Amazing Spider-Man" in 2012 and its sequel in 2014.

When Sony 's emails were hacked in 2015, fans learned that Garfield was "let go" as Spider-Man after the underwhelming reception of his two films — largely because he didn't show up to the event where "The Amazing Spider-Man 3" was set to be announced.

Garfield told The Guardian in 2016 that taking on the role of Spider-Man was "exquisite and terrifying and incredible," but he was "naive to the whole process of making one of those big-budget films."

Tom Holland was cast as the MCU's Spider-Man in 2015.

After "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" under-performed at the box office, Sony (which owns the rights to Spider-Man) and Disney (which owns the rights to The Avengers) made a deal to bring Peter Parker into the MCU.

Holland was announced as the hero's newest incarnation shortly after. He made his debut in "Captain America: Civil War" (2016) and reprised the role in "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018), "Avengers: Endgame" (2019), and two solo movies: "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017) and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" (2019).

Read more: 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' is the perfect follow-up to 'Avengers: Endgame' if you were left sobbing at the movie's end

Stan Lee has said that Holland is exactly what he envisioned when he wrote the character.

Nicholas Hammond played Peter Parker on the CBS show "The Amazing Spider-Man" from 1977 to 1979.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" was the hero's first live-action onscreen appearance. CBS canceled the show after just 13 episodes.

The character's famous co-creator, Marvel behemoth Stan Lee, once said he was "very unhappy" with the adaptation.

"With 'Spider-Man,' I felt the people who did the live-action series left out the very elements that made the comic book popular," he said. "They left out the humor. They left out the human interest and personality and playing up characterizations and personal problems."

Aaron Taylor-Johnson played Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015).

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" introduced Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, aka Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, into the MCU.

In the comics, the Maximoff twins are the mutant children of X-Men villain Magneto. But because 20th Century Fox owned the"X-Men"movie rights, Disney couldn't use that backstory in "Age of Ultron."

Instead, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch got their powers from the Mind Stone: super-speed and telekinesis, respectively. But while Scarlet Witch went on to play a major role in the MCU, her twin brother was killed in his first film.

Evan Peters was introduced as Quicksilver in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014).

Evan Peters' young, rambunctious version of Quicksilver became an instant fan favorite in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014). He reprised his role as the super-speedy mutant in "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016) and "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019).

Read more: Why Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are allowed to appear in both the 'X-Men' and 'Avengers' movies

Peters told Collider that he was "bummed" when Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver died in "Age of Ultron."

Famke Janssen played Jean Grey, aka Phoenix, in the '00s "X-Men" trilogy.

Janssen took on the role of Jean Grey for the first "X-Men" film in 2000. She reprised her role in 2003's "X2" and transformed into Pheonix for "X-Men: The Last Stand" in 2006.

"I never knew — I don't think any of us had any understanding of how popular our first movie was going to be and that it was gonna live on for 15 plus years," she said at Comic Con after the final film's release. "I think we're done, but it was really great while it lasted and it lasted for a long time."

Sophie Turner was introduced as Jean Grey in "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016) and starred in "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019).

Turner has said that playing Sansa Stark on HBO's "Game of Thrones" helped her land the role in the newer "X-Men" series.

"I think Famke played Jean incredibly well, but also, I'm playing a younger version of her,"Turner told IGN in 2015. "I want to emulate Famke in a sense, because she has to seem like the Jean in the first two movies, but I'm also going to put my own twist on her. I think I'm also going to take inspiration from the comics."

Read more:Why the latest 'X-Men' movie, 'Dark Phoenix,' was doomed from the start

Patrick Stewart played Professor X in seven feature films, beginning with "X-Men" in 2000.

After "Star Trek," Stewart was initially reluctant about starring in another franchise, but says director Bryan Singer persuaded him. He announced he would retire from the "X-Men" universe after starring in 2017's "Logan."

"I realized there will never be a better, a more perfect, a more sensitive, emotional, and beautiful way of saying 'au revoir' to Charles Xavier than this movie,"he told the A.V. Club. "So, I told [Hugh Jackman] that same evening, 'I'm done too. It's all over.'"

James McAvoy took on the role of Professor X for "X-Men: First Class" in 2011.

McAvoy signed on to play the telepathic superhero for the 2011 prequel.

"You have set it in a completely different time and you are also taking these people to a much earlier point in their personal development as well as their physical and super development,"he told IGN at the time. "What's fun is you get to figure out who were they in the other films."

"For me, Charles Xavier is a monk," he continued. "He's like a selfless, ego-less almost sexless force for the betterment of humanity and mortality. And getting to kind of go, 'Alright, well he's got to be different from that.' It's quite fun because the complete opposite of that is an ego-fueled, sexed up self-serving dude. And not going too far with it, but he's definitely got an ego and he's definitely got a sex drive as well."

McAvoy reprised the role in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014), "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016), and "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019).

Rebecca Romijn originally played Mystique.

Romijn was introduced as Raven Darkhölme, aka Mystique, aka Magneto's loyal second-in-command, in "X-Men" (2000). She was featured in the role throughout the trilogy.

Romijn told Digital Spy in 2014 that she would "absolutely" be interested in returning to the franchise.

Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Mystique in four "X-Men" movies.

Lawrence was introduced as the mutant in "X-Men: First Class" (2011). She went on to reprise the role in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014) and "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016). At that point, her contract had expired and she nearly declined to return for "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019).

"I love these movies — it's just the paint," Lawrence told EW on the set of "Apocalypse" in 2015.

Lawrence, who was 20 years old when she starred in "First Class," said she "didn't care about fumes and toxins" at first.

"Now I'm almost 25 and I'm like, 'I can't even pronounce this and that's going in my nose? I'm breathing that?'" she said.

When Simon Kinberg signed on to write and produce "Dark Phoenix," Lawrence said she couldn't turn her friend down.

James Marsden played Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, in the original "X-Men" trilogy.

Marsden recently said he'd be "down" to reprise the role, now that the X-Men can be introduced into the MCU.

"I think that world, there just are no rules," he recently told ComicBook.com. "You can do whatever you want. If there's some iteration down the line where we're involved... that's been a special thing to be a part of for a good period of my life and I love those fans and I love playing that character, so yeah, I'd be totally open to that."

Tye Sheridan was introduced as Cyclops in "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016).

Sheridan's Cyclops takes on a leadership role in "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019).

It's really exciting,"Sheridan said during WonderCon. "I think he grows a lot over the course of this film and becomes much more of a leader of the X-Men. It's fun to play the progression and explore that."

Kelsey Grammer played Hank McCoy, aka Beast, in "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006).

Although Beast is an founding member of the X-Men in the comics, he only appeared in the final film of the original "X-Men" trilogy.

"Beast was a riot, I think he was underused,"Grammer told ComicBook.com in 2017. "I believe that they should have done another Beast movie, you know with my Beast."

Nicholas Hoult portrayed Beast in four "X-Men" movies, starting with "X-Men: First Class" in 2011.

"The 'X-Men' crowd really grew up together. It's been a good eight, nine years making those movies," Hoult told Evening Standard in January, ahead of the release of "Dark Phoenix."

"The really beautiful thing about this last film," he continued, "is that [writer and director] Kim Berger has given me somewhere nice and new to experiment and go with the character. Which is cool."

Halle Berry played Storm in all three original "X-Men" movies in 2000, 2003, and 2006.

Berry portrayed the powerful, weather-controlling mutant in the original "X-Men" trilogy. She even appeared for a small cameo role in "Days of Future Past" (2014).

Alexandra Shipp played Storm in "Apocalypse" (2016) and "Dark Phoenix" (2019).

Shipp said she "definitely cried" on the last day of shooting "Dark Phoenix."

"It didn't feel like an end to an era, though," she told TheWrap, "because Disney hadn't purchased Fox at the time so it was just like summer camp was ending, and it was one of those feelings, like, 'I'll miss you guys!' We definitely felt it at the premiere though, like, 'Yeah, this is the end.' It's bittersweet."

Read more:14 major movie franchises that Disney will own after buying Fox, from 'Alien' to 'X-Men'

Ioan Gruffudd played Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, in "Fantastic Four" (2005) and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" (2007).

"He's a scientist, but also a bit of a dork or geek. He's completely blind to the fact that Sue Storm is in love with him. And he certainly becomes their leader towards the end, and I hope I represent that well,"Gruffudd told ComicBookMovie.com ahead of the first film's release.

Miles Teller played Mr. Fantastic in the 2015 reboot.

Despite the film's negative reception and disappointing performance at the box office, Teller said he'd be open to filming a sequel.

"I loved the cast, I loved the characters. I think it's such an interesting dynamic. I love how much they really need to rely on each other," he told JoBlo.

"Obviously you learn more as you go on," he continued. "But I wouldn't change anything. I can honestly say I've never just done something for money; I'd be really embarrassed for something like that to come out, that I had no attachment to the character, no attachment to the script. It takes a while before you're only working with the best directors, nobody's career is flawless."

Jessica Alba played Susan Storm, aka Invisible Woman, in the 2005 film and 2007 sequel.

Alba has been open about her negative experience filming"Rise of the Silver Surfer," and especially about working with director Tim Story.

"I wanted to stop acting,"she said in 2012. "The director was like, 'It looks too real. It looks too painful. Can you be prettier when you cry? Cry pretty, Jessica.' He was like, 'Don't do that thing with your face. Just make it flat. We can CGI the tears in.'"

"And I'm like, 'But there's no connection to a human being,'" she continued. "And then it got me thinking: Am I not good enough? Are my instincts and my emotions not good enough? Do people hate them so much that they don't want me to be a person? Am I not allowed to be a person in my work? And so I just said, 'F--- it. I don't care about this business anymore.'"

Kate Mara played Invisible Woman in 2015's "Fantastic Four."

"Oh yeah, I would love to be a part of 'Fantastic Four' sequel, or whatever they may or may not have in store for us,"Mara told IGN in 2016. "I know all of the guys feel the same way. We love working with each other." 

Chris Evans played Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, in 2004's "Fantastic Four" and the 2007 sequel.

Evans initially wasn't considered for the role of Captain America in the MCU because he had already portrayed a Marvel superhero.

"We thought, 'OK, well, he's that character. Let's keep looking,'"Marvel president Kevin Feige told The Hollywood Reporter. "And as we [continued] not finding people, we went back to the initial lists. And that brought us back to Chris. And I thought, well, Patrick Stewart played Jean-Luc Picard and Charles Xavier. Harrison Ford played Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Who cares?"

Michael B. Jordan played the Human Torch in the 2015 reboot.

After the reboot was announced, Jordan addressed racist objections to his casting in an essay for EW.

"I can see everybody's perspective, and I know I can't ask the audience to forget 50 years of comic books," he wrote. "But the world is a little more diverse in 2015 than when the Fantastic Four comic first came out in 1961. Plus, if Stan Lee writes an email to my director saying, 'You're good. I'm OK with this,' who am I to go against that?"

Michael Chiklis originally portrayed Ben Grimm, aka the Thing.

Chiklis told the New York Times that playing the Thing was "a physical and psychological nightmare."

"Once they glued the suit on me, I couldn't get it off without help, no matter how hard I struggled," he said. "I had six people around me all day, to take me out of the suit, put an air conditioner in my head and feed me water. I couldn't eat real food, and I lived on protein drinks during the entire shoot. Going to the bathroom was horrendous."

However, the actor still teased his willingness to reprise the role after Disney acquired the rights to the Fantastic Four gang.

"Could it be clobberin time?"he wrote on Twitter, alongside a photo of the Thing punching the Hulk.

Jamie Bell played The Thing in 2015.

Bell admitted he and his co-stars were "bitterly disappointed" with the film.

"There were several things on that movie I was clearly not privy to because I'm just an actor and I just do my stuff on set," he told the Los Angeles Times.

"But with something like that, everything starts with the best of intentions," he continued. "A production begins with the idea to make something that's unique and original and with integrity. I think the film really strived towards those goals. I don't know what happened between the launch of the voyage and the arrival."

Christopher Reeve played Superman in four solo movies, from 1978 to 1987.

Reeve became Clark Kent after initially failing to impress the producers, who wanted to cast an A-lister like Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, or Paul Newman.

Reeve reportedly refused to wear a "muscle shirt" for his second audition and bulked up for the screen test. He made his onscreen debut in "Superman" (1978). He reprised the role in "Superman II" (1980), "Superman III" (1983), and "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" (1987).

"It was absolutely amazing,"Reeve said of his first time seeing the original film. "It got a standing ovation at the end. And I'll never forget that moment when Superman flies for the first time at the Fortress of Solitude. That got tremendous applause, that Superman had finally taken off."

Brandon Routh played Superman in the 2006 film "Superman Returns."

"Superman Returns" paid homage to the first two Superman films starring Reeves, while ignoring the second two films, which had more disappointing performances at the box office.

Warner Bros. originally intended to make a sequel to "Superman Returns," but canceled its plans after the film failed to break even on its production budget.

"Being a young individual of 24, 25, I thought, 'Oh, I'm going to do this for years and make multiple movies.' And that of course didn't happen," Routh recently told Entertainment Weekly at Cinema-Con.

Routh currently plays Ray Palmer, aka The Atom, on "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." He's expected to reprise his role as Superman on the CW's annual Arrowverse crossover event in December.

Henry Cavill became Superman when Warner Bros. rebooted the character for "Man of Steel" (2013).

"What I can say is that it's a modernization of the character and a very realistic view of one, obviously, very fantastic individual,"Cavill told Cineplex before the "Man of Steel" premiere. "It's an unreal situation, but it's approached from a very practical viewpoint. We wanted to make the character easier to identify with."

Cavill reprised the role for "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" in 2016 and "Justice League" in 2017. He reportedly told a fan at San Diego Comic-Con that he'd like to continue playing Superman for a "Man of Steel" sequel. 

Tom Welling starred as Clark Kent on The CW's "Smallville."

"Smallville," which told the story of Clark Kent before he took on the identity of Superman, aired for 10 seasons from 2001 until 2011.

"That show is about a teenager trying to figure out who he is,"Welling told EW after the series finale aired. "They felt that once Clark put on the cape and the suit, life became too easy, in a sense. They wanted to focus on who this character was before that."

Tyler Hoechlin currently recurs as Superman on The CW's "Supergirl."

Although the network reportedly has no plans for Hoechlin's Superman to reappear on "Supergirl," he is scheduled to return on the CW's annual Arrowverse crossover event in December.

Read more:Tyler Hoechlin's TV version of Superman is the best Man of Steel we've had in decades

Helen Slater starred as the titular hero in the 1984 film "Supergirl."

"I don't like to say I regret anything, it's not my style, but I do quasi-regret that the script didn't connect as much, and that it didn't go on to be bigger,"Slater told Den of Geek in 2010.

"I talked with comic book writers about this over the years, and even in my anthropology class — I'm working on a college degree right now — we talk about whether there's something about a Supergirl that isn't quite landing," she continued. "Why don't we see more than that? Did they fashion her too much on Superman, they didn't know how to make it more? I don't know the answer to it."

Melissa Benoist currently plays Kara Danvers on The CW's "Supergirl."

Since the series premiere in 2015, Benoist has worn a skirt and tights in the role. On the upcoming season, Supergirl will ditch her classic look for navy pants.

Benoist said during the panel that wearing pants felt like "the perfect evolution" for her character. She also elaborated in an interview with "Extra TV".

Read more:The CW's first official image of Supergirl wearing pants is out, and fans are praising the new look

"I've been thinking about it for a long time. Frankly, logistically, when we went to Vancouver, it was much colder than Los Angeles, so the skirt wasn't really practical," she said, referring to where the season was filmed. "But more than that, like, just the evolution of Kara — it just feels appropriate, like it's time."

The actress also said that the new suit has greater flexibility and called it "so comfortable" and "really empowering."

Jason Momoa played Aquaman in "Justice League" (2017) and the "Aquaman" solo film (2018).

Momoa's Aquaman— a grittier, more brooding version of the classically blonde-haired, blue-eyed hero — made his live-action theatrical debut in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016).

Despite mixed reviews of his solo outing, the actor says he was "passionate" about doing a sequel, which is currently slated for a 2022 release.

Read more:9 details you probably didn't know about the making of 'Aquaman'

Alan Ritchson previously played Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, on multiple episodes of "Smallville."

Ritchson's "environmentally conscious surfer dude" version of the aquatic hero was introduced on season five, episode four of the CW's "Smallville." He reprised his role on seasons six, eight, and 10.

Justin Hartley played Arthur Curry in a pilot for the TV series, "Aquaman."

"Smallville" creators Al Gough and Miles Millar had big plans for an "Aquaman" TV series on The WB. The pilot, written by Gough and Millar, starred Hartley as a super-powered dive shop owner in Florida who finds out he's the lost Prince of Atlantis.

By the time the pilot was ready for a pickup, however, the WB didn't exist anymore. The network had merged with UPN and created the CW Network, which opted not to order the "Aquaman" pilot to series.

Hartley went on to play Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, on "Smallville."

"Everyone started to say 'Aquaman' was a sure thing, it was going to be a show. I just kept telling myself I got hired to do a pilot. Just do this pilot and see what happens,"Hartley told MediaVillage.

"My work on 'Aquaman' is something that I'm really proud of, as far as the relationships that I developed with the creators of 'Aquaman' and also 'Smallville,' and the cast and the crew. People got to see my work ethic," he continued. "I think that translated into a role on 'Smallville,' which is great. That's what I was always told as a kid. 'Work hard. Work hard. Work hard.' It definitely does pay off."

Stephen Amell has played Oliver Queen on The CW's "Arrow" since 2012.

"Arrow" will come to an end this year after an eight-season run.

"Playing Oliver Queen has been the greatest professional experience of my life... but you can't be a vigilante forever,"Amell wrote on Twitter.

Ezra Miller played The Flash in "Justice League" (2017) and is set to reprise the role for a solo movie.

A solo "Flash" movie starring Miller has faced some setbacks since it was announced five years ago — especially following the commercial and critical failure of "Justice League."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Miller himself has stepped in to help rewrite the script with a "darker take on the material."

Grant Gustin currently portrays Barry Allen on The CW's "Flash."

Gustin's version of the Scarlet Speedster is getting a stylish redesign and a new villain for the upcoming sixth season of "The Flash."

• Marvel just released a blooper reel for "Avengers: Endgame," which is now available on digital. The Blu-ray will be released on Tuesday, August 13.
• Chris Pratt can be seen gathered with costars Tom Holland, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, and others, warning them not to "pull a hamstring" as they prepare for a fight sequence. 
• "I can't believe I filmed a whole movie with this thing on,"Chris Evans says as he touches his Captain America helmet. 
• "See what I have to deal with here,"Scarlett Johansson jokingly says as Jeremy Renner makes a funny face after they look at each other. "Ten years of this s---."
• Watch the full video below. 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

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• Awkwafina, who's promoting her partnership with travel app HotelTonight, spoke to INSIDER about her involvement in recent films that contribute to more representation in Hollywood.
• "I think that the response to the movies, especially with 'Crazy Rich Asians' and now with 'The Farewell,' has been very telling, in that they've been missing something," the 31-year-old actress and rapper told us. 
• She added: "I think that the work that we've been doing doesn't completely answer that kind of representation. I think there's always going to be more representation to be had, but I think that they're definitely going to set a stage for more stories to be told, more actors like me to be featured, more directors, more writers."
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

Awkwafina says there's a need for more representation in Hollywood, but she's "proud" to be part of diverse movies.

"I think that the response to the movies, especially with 'Crazy Rich Asians' and now with 'The Farewell,' has been very telling, in that they've been missing something," Awkwafina, who's promoting her partnership with travel app HotelTonight, told INSIDER.

In recent years, the 31-year-old, who rose to fame as a rapper, has gained popularity with roles in "Ocean's Eight" (as Constance), "Crazy Rich Asians" (Peik Lin Goh), and her latest movie titled "The Farewell" (Billi). The films have also been praised for telling stories about underrepresented groups.

Read more: 'Crazy Rich Asians' is an extravagant, hilarious, and poignant examination of Asian American and Asian cultures that revolutionizes the studio rom-com

"I think that the work that we've been doing doesn't completely answer that kind of representation," Awkwafina told us. "I think there's always going to be more representation to be had, but I think that they're definitely going to set a stage for more stories to be told, more actors like me to be featured, more directors, more writers, all that."

She continued: "I think that it's just a really cool time. I'm really happy and very, very, very proud to be a part of that."

Next, Awkwafina (whose real name is Nora Lum) will make her Marvel Cinematic Universe in the upcoming film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." The movie hits theaters on Friday, February 12, 2021. 

Few details have been revealed about the movie, but Sium Liu will play the titular character, who was introduced in the comics in 1973. Awkwafina's involvement in the film was recently announced at San Diego Comic-Con, but it's unclear who she'll portray. 

"I couldn't believe it," the actress told us of the moment she found out she'd be part of the Marvel movie. "Then I looked more into who Shang-Chi was and I talked to [director Destin Daniel Cretton] about it. I'm just really excited for it and I'm really happy for Simu."

• Read more:
• Marvel just announced all of its movies for the next 2 years — here they all are
• How 'Crazy Rich Asians' compares to the highest-grossing studio romantic comedies since 1997
• 9 of the best outfits from 'Crazy Rich Asians'

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Sometimes, a business can do everything right and still fail.
• Luckily, despite truly reaching the brink of extinction, some businesses manage to come back even stronger.
• Marvel fans came out in droves to see Marvel movies while the company was struggling, and helped it become one of the most prolific brands in cinematic history.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Marvel, Netflix, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and the others on this list are so big, they're essentially unavoidable. But it wasn't always this way. All 10 companies faced an uphill struggle at some point. With the help of comic book fans, hipsters, TV junkies, and many others they were able to rebound and become more successful than ever.

Keep scrolling to learn more about these success stories.

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Before Marvel was making billions at the box office, it was in serious trouble. Thankfully, comic book fans continued to turn out at the movies and helped the company rebound.

Today, Marvel and Marvel Studios are responsible for many of the highest-grossing films of all time. The most recent addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Avengers: Endgame," smashed box office records.

But back in the '90s, the comics publisher was failing. Stock prices were down, and the company was heavily in debt, according to Den of Geek. In order to try and bring revenue up, Marvel sold the film rights to many of its iconic characters, like the X-Men, Blade, and Spider-Man. So even while these movies were being made, Marvel wasn't taking in much of the profits.

Cut to 2008, however, and "Iron Man" starring Robert Downey Jr. was released, kicking off a successful 22-movie, 11-year-long journey for the character and changing things around for the company. Why did it work? Many point to the script, Downey's casting, and Jon Favreau's directing.

Pabst Blue Ribbon, or PBR, has become a hipster favorite after launching an unlikely comeback in the early 2000s.

PBR sales had been steadily declining starting in the 1970s and all the way until 2002. That year, according to The New York Times, sales increased by a little over 5%. But by 2014, the company saw a sharp turn in its fortune, and was valued at $1 billion.

Marketing, or a lack thereof, was credited with the rise of the beer amongst the hipster population, which notoriously doesn't like things in the mainstream. When PBR disappeared from gigantic billboards and Super Bowl commercials, it immediately appealed to people who exclusively like things that are "underground."

And now, thousands of people across the country have once again become fond of cracking open a cold PBR can.

Converse filed for bankruptcy in 2001. It has since been valued at over $1 billion.

Converse sneakers were virtually inescapable in the '70s and '80s, but fell out of fashion for many in the '90s and early 2000s. The company was reporting $205 million in revenue in 2002 — not much, according to Quartz.

However, Nike saw something in the brand — namely, that with a quick rebrand people would be clamoring for Converse once again. After high profile collaborations with designers like John Varvatos, the company has been on the up and up ever since. Converse are again some of the most common sneakers in the US.

Netflix was saved by its original content after a disastrous attempt at starting a service called Qwikster.

In 2019, Netflix is a behemoth of content, ranging from comedies to dramas to movies to children's programming to an interactive episode of "Black Mirror." It's easy to forget that it hasn't always been smooth sailing for the website.

Netflix originally started as a mail-order DVD service in 1998. A little over a decade later, the service was dabbling in online streaming as well. According to Quartz, Netflix — against better judgment— decided to separate DVD subscriptions and streaming subscriptions and up their prices. The company decided to name the DVD subscription Qwikster.

Their stock tanked, and Netflix lost around 800,000 subscribers in the immediate aftermath of the announcement in 2011. But two years later, "House of Cards" premiered as the first Netflix Original, and there's been no turning back since then.

With both the critical and viewer acclaim that came with "House of Cards," Netflix began creating more and more original content, and has since won Emmys, Golden Globes, and even Oscars. Plus, more people than ever are subscribed to it.

Apple was saved by its trendy new colorful computers. It was recently valued at $1 trillion, the first company ever to do so.

When Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple in the '80s, it signaled a downward spiral for the company, including a series of flops like the Newton MessagePad, basically a notepad that retailed for over $700.

After Jobs was reinstated as CEO (following a downward spiral for the company), Apple was on the rise. The defining moment (at the time) came with the unveiling of the iMac, which looked unlike anything else on the market and came in five different colors.

Other defining moments include the introduction of the iPod, iTunes, and the iPhone. Apple has become the first company to be valued at $1 trillion and virtually everyone has an iPhone in their pocket.

Between 2008 and 2009, Starbucks shut down 900 stores and laid off 6,700 employees. Ten years later, they've once again become a coffee juggernaut.

Starbucks' main problem was that it grew too much too quickly. When Howard Schultz stepped away as CEO and operated just as chairman, the chain went from 5,000 stores to 15,000, Business Insider reported. Its stock also dropped 42%.

Schultz returned as CEO in 2008 (when the chain began shutting down hundreds of stores) and now, 11 years later, Starbucks reported $6.3  billion in revenue. It currently has 16.8 million Starbucks Rewards users.

Delta Airlines filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005. Now it has the second-biggest fleet in the world.

In 2005, Delta was earning just 86% of the industry average of revenue per seat mile, according to Forbes. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005, citing rising fuel costs, and used that time to completely restructure and revamp itself, while other airlines were quickly getting bought or merged together.

They emerged from bankruptcy in 2007 and have been on the up and up ever since. As Forbes outlined, the airline made several key decisions, like turning Atlanta into the biggest airline hub in the world, acquiring a foothold in London's Heathrow airport, and taking advantage of New York City airports JFK and LaGuardia.

Now, Business Insider reported that Delta is the second-largest airline in the world, in terms of fleet size. It has 879 planes, only behind American Airlines' 956.

Lego was on the verge of going bankrupt in 2003, and now it has a successful theme park, movies, video games, and toys.

Lego was originally founded in 1923, and has been a staple of the toy industry ever since. But at the dawn of the millennium, the company began encountering issues. Though they were able to secure licensing deals with mega-popular franchises like "Harry Potter" and "Star Wars," after the hype from the movies died down, sales plummeted. But Lego was still producing the same amount of stock. According to Tweak Your Biz, Lego was losing one million dollars a day.

A new CEO was appointed in 2004, when Lego was on the verge of bankruptcy. He immediately made changes like slashing the amount of parts being manufactured, retiring lines that weren't selling, and shutting down the computer games division.

Now, "The Lego Movie" was one of the biggest, most-beloved movies of 2014, and has spawned a direct sequel, and two spin-off movies, "The Lego Batman Movie" and "The Lego Ninjago Movie."

With the help of hilarious commercials, Old Spice is cool again.

Commercials and re-branding are what took Old Spice from being known as the choice deodorant of grandparents everywhere to a hip, relevant product.

The changes came in 2008 when parent company Procter and Gamble rolled out new products with hyper-masculine names like "Red Zone" and "High Endurance." Having been founded in 1938, for a long time, the brand was associated with older gentlemen.

"I know that the first thing that came to mind whenever I smelled original Old Spice was my grandfather," wrote Megan O'Neill of AdWeek.

Two years later, the iconic "Old Spice Guy" commercial aired starring Isaiah Mustafa, coining the new catchphrase "I'm on a horse." According to Fast Company, their sales went up by 55% after the ads aired.

General Motors (GM) went bankrupt and was bailed out in 2009. In just 10 years, they've made a complete turnaround.

GM was founded in 1908, and for years it was an automobile giant in the US. But beginning in the '70s with a national gas shortage, the company fell on hard times. In the next decade, the entire US auto industry was facing international competition, and from 1981 to 1990, GM's market share went from half of the US market to a third. 

GM finally entered into bankruptcy in 2009 after successfully pleading its case to Congress for a bailout. GM was restructured and endured multiple interim CEOs before Mary Barra was installed as the first female CEO of a major automaker in 2014.

Under her leadership, the company steadied and remained the No.1 carmaker in the US. It reported higher-than-expected earnings in the first quarter of 2019.

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• Actors who wear superhero suits as part of their roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe endure several challenges that fans might not be aware of. 
• For many MCU stars, going to the bathroom, eating, and scratching itches can be challenging while wearing their suits. 
• Regardless, lots of the actors say that the end results make all the discomfort worth it. 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

Superhero suits look glamorous on the big screen, but fans might not be aware of the challenges the stars face with their outfits when the cameras aren't rolling. 

For many actors who have starred in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the costumes are snug, heavy, or generally uncomfortable. In some cases, the outfits make it difficult to hear, drink, and eat. 

Other MCU stars, like Gwyneth Paltrow and Evangeline Lilly, have raved about their costumes and called out their costars for complaining. 

Here are 14 celebrities who revealed what it's really like to wear their MCU suits

Chris Evans' Captain America suit has evolved since his MCU debut in "Captain America: The First Avenger," but the costume is still uncomfortable.

"I love the Cap suit," the actor told PopSugar in 2011. "It's a great suit. But after about three months of wearing it, you start missing normal clothing."

Years later, when "Avengers: Endgame" hit theaters, screenwriter Stephen McFeely told the Los Angeles Times that Evans "has never been comfortable with that outfit from the first 'Avengers' movie."

"I think it's the color, but also his ears are covered in that outfit," Christopher Markus, another "Endgame" screenwriter, added. "When he puts on the helmet, he has these little Princess Leia dents over his ears and it throws the whole thing off. You wouldn't normally think that an ear is an important part of an outfit but it balances everything in a way that when they go, you look dorky."

Scarlett Johansson said that her Black Widow suit combined with a warm, desert climate during "Avengers" filming led to excessive sweating and skin conditions.

During a 2012 episode of ABC's "Nightline" with her "Avengers" costars, the actress compared her outfit to a "wetsuit" and said that she "hallucinated" while filming.

"It was so hot, I would wring out my socks at the end of the day," she said.

Johansson added that her suit got destroyed and often had to be replaced.

"They're like tires," she said. "You would just go through sets of them. Every time you get a new costume, you just feel real nice and then three days later, it's like the discount Widow."

She also told USA Today that the costume "material is like a torture chamber" that needed to be peeled off. 

"We all had skin conditions going with our outfits after 15 hours of nonstop sweat. I was sending pictures to my dermatologist in Los Angeles," she said.

Chris Hemsworth said that his suits aren't comfortable, but he knows that the end result on screen is worth it.

"I put the thing on and said, 'It's not very comfortable, but it looks amazing, so it's all good,'" Hemsworth said of his first time putting on the Thor suit during a 2010 interview with Superhero Hype. "And then a couple of weeks in, I thought, 'It's getting more and more uncomfortable,' and at the end of three, four months it was a pretty difficult thing to wake up and put on every morning. But it sells such an image in the picture. It does a lot of the work for you."

The actor also told ABC's Chris Connelly that his costume for "The Avengers" featured"a little air-conditioning unit" to make filming in the desert more bearable.

"We all had that option," he said. "It was like this T-shirt you'd wear with like a hose that you'd plug in and there was cool water."

Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man suits got easier to wear over time, but it was difficult at the start.

"I'd been training all these years and thought I was pretty tough, but the first time I put on the Mark 1 suit, I almost had a personality meltdown," Downey Jr. said in the production notes for "Iron Man 1.""I'm not claustrophobic, but after moving around in it for a couple of hours your spirit is kind of broken and you're like, 'OK, time to bring in the stunt team.'"

Ahead of the release of "Iron Man 3" in 2013, Downey Jr. also told Movie Talk that the film's latest iteration of the suit was "lighter" and "more flexible," but added that "there is no comfortable version of it."

Animation director Marc Chu also told Gizmodo that the actor stopped wearing the full costume years ago. Instead, Marvel has used CGI technology to create the iconic suit that fans see in the films. Downey Jr. has also worn a partial suit, referred to as a "football" suit (because it resembles football player shoulder pads), for some scenes.

Don Cheadle said the War Machine suit "ain't no lightweight thing."

Speaking to Huffington Post in 2013, Cheadle said that for a large portion of filming, he wears a motion capture suit and special effects are later added to achieve what fans see in the movies. But he still has to wear an actual suit. 

"It's very heavy," he said. "It's fiberglass, I think that's what it is."

"But it feels like it's some special alloy that they made in a torture chamber that Torquemada created," Cheadle added, referring to the Spanish inquisitor known for torturing people. "I don't know what it is."

The actor also spoke about his experience with Bring Me the News and said that he wasn't going to complain.

"It's a lot easier than doing things a lot of other people have to do to make a living," he said. 

Gwyneth Paltrow said that suiting up in "Iron Man 3" was "just nothing at all."

"Women are so much stronger than men," Paltrow, who stars as Pepper Potts in the MCU, told "Entertainment Tonight.""Oh my god, I was like, 'What are they complaining about?' It's not as comfortable as yoga pants, but it's a costume!"

The actress also called out Downey Jr. and Cheadle for complaining about their costumes, saying, "Men are crybabies."

Read more: Gwyneth Paltrow says 'Avengers: Endgame' will be her last Marvel movie: 'I'm a bit old to be in a suit'

Paul Bettany's Vision ensemble makes it difficult for him to hear.

In a 2015 Marvel featurette, Bettany explained that his face gets painted and then a rubber balaclava is put over his head and glued to his face. He also wears a "robot muscle suit" that's equipped with tubes that run ice water through to keep his body cool.

"It's pretty painful, it's uncomfortable," Bettany told USA Today in 2015.

He went on to say that he's required to wear the costume for hours and it "gets a bit tough" by the third day of filming. 

"Ant-Man and the Wasp" star Evangeline Lilly said she's used to being "uncomfortable for the sake of looking good."

During an interview with BackstageOL, Lilly said that she's noticed male Marvel stars "complain about their suits for years" and despite their criticism, she didn't find her Wasp suit to be "that bad."

"I think my suit is killer," she said. "I think my suit is so cool. I think it's powerful, I think it's modern, it's strong, sexy. And it made me feel like a superhero."

Offering an explanation for why they seem to respond differently to their wardrobes, Lilly continued, "Do I have the most comfortable suit in the MCU, or have men not had the life experience of being uncomfortable for the sake of looking good?"

"This is like, normal," the actress added. "I wear heels to work. I'm uncomfortable all day. I'm used to it. You tune it out."

Paul Rudd has trouble dealing with itches while wearing his Ant-Man outfit.

The actor said that trying to scratch his skin through his "thick" suit is "the worst part."

"Sometimes it happens on set and I just have to ask whoever's standing next to me to punch me to try ... and you have to get through, so you have to punch hard, so I was just getting beat up all the time," Rudd told "E! News" in 2018 while promoting "Ant-Man and the Wasp" in 2018.  

He also said that filming in Atlanta led to a lot of sweating.

"The scenes outside are always the toughest," Rudd said.""[The suits] don't breathe. In a way, it's like taking a 15-hour flight. You know it's not going to be fun, but when it's all said and done, you do it and you're like, alright, that was fine. And then when it's over, you're like, that wasn't that bad." 

Chadwick Boseman said that his Black Panther suit worn in "Captain America: Civil War" was "suffocating."

"Literally, it closed off every possibility of air getting to you," the actor told Variety. "I was in it, put the mask on. I said, 'Hey, you got to get me out of this!'"

Boseman, who reprised the role in his 2018 standalone movie, said that he got used to the outfit. 

"I think it begins to feel like skin after a while," he said. "But it takes time to get to that place."

The actor also talked about the suit being "blazing hot" during a 2016 interview with /Film.

"I've never been that hot before in my life, seriously," he said. 

"Civil War" costar Elizabeth Olsen also said that Boseman "has the worst costume," with Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) adding that "it's the worst of any Marvel character."

For Brie Larson, going to the bathroom requires a group of people.

"It's not comfortable, it takes two people to get me into it and it's a 30-minute process to put it on," Larson told Games Radar of her Captain Marvel suit. "It makes going to the bathroom a bit of a thing — it's a team of five people just for me to go to the bathroom."

The actress added: "That was the part that, when the movie was done, I was the most excited about. I was like, 'I can go to the bathroom by myself! I don't need to make an announcement!'"

Read more: Brie Larson won best stunt at the MTV Movie and TV Awards, and brought up her 'Captain Marvel' stunt doubles to accept the honor

Tom Hiddleston's iconic Loki headpiece was far from lightweight.

On ABC's "Nightline," Hiddleston said that his God of Mischief outfit consisted of "30 pounds of leather and metal" and a headpiece that weighed approximately eight pounds. 

"When you're wearing 30 pounds of leather, then you get very hot, and then all the heat that would normally escape through your head is just kind of encased inside this steel balaclava and your brain slowly turns to scrambled eggs, so it has its challenges," the actor said. 

Hiddleston also told Collider that in addition to the horns being heavy, there were other challenges.

"Because my ears are closed off, I can't hear very well," he said in 2010. "And it becomes quite claustrophobic so I have to kind of … it's a strange thing acting in it but I know it looks so good because I've seen it in playback, so it's worth it."

Tom Holland's head-to-toe Spider-Man suit presents several challenges.

Playing the teen webslinger comes with a price, and for Holland, he's limited to what he can do while wearing the Lyrca suit. 

Because his fingers are covered in the material, the actor isn't able to scratch any itches or use his phone. 

"I'm 23. I use my phone a lot. I've become so good at liking pictures with my nose," Holland said during an appearance on NBC's "Late Night With Seth Meyers."

Eating is also difficult, and a tube is inserted through one of the eyeholes of his costume so he can drink. Moreover, Holland has said that "drinking water is dangerous in the Spider-Man costume because an accident is not an option."

"Going to the bathroom is a mission," he said while appearing on "Live With Kelly and Ryan" in 2017. "You have to plan 45 minutes in advance."

Read more: How Tom Holland went from a theater kid in England to a Marvel superstar

Tessa Thompson said that her Valkyrie costume is "not the most comfortable thing to wear."

"This [costume] is made entirely with plastic, so it's not the most comfortable thing to wear, but I think it's really strong and gives a really bold look and is something that later in ["Thor: Ragnarok"] in the third act that it becomes kind of a centerpiece of Valkyrie at that moment," the actress told ComicBook.com.

• Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Spider-Man: Far From Home."
• Eagle-eyed fans have noticed that Jake Gyllenhaal's character in the "Spider-Man" sequel, Quentin Beck/Mysterio, actually popped up prior to meeting Peter Parker/Spider-Man (played by Tom Holland). 
• Gyllenhaal shared a series of photos of himself wearing a hat and a floral shirt on the set of "Far From Home," writing: "This isn't just a sexy dad outfit. It's my favorite look from Spider-Man: FFH [look] closer #wheresbeck."
• Twitter user @UpToTASK pointed out that Mysterio has a sneaky appearance in that exact outfit during an early scene in the movie, which showed Peter buying a necklace for Zendaya's MJ.   
• The blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment happened prior to Mysterio officially meeting Peter. 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

• Read more about "Spider-Man: Far From Home":
• There's a small subplot in 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' you may have missed that may mean more for the next movie
• 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' has 2 end-credit scenes — here's what they mean for future Marvel movies
• 21 details you may have missed in 'Spider-Man: Far From Home'

Join the conversation about this story »

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• If you're looking for a video game you can really sink your teeth into, "Destiny 2" might become your next big addiction.
• The game has evolved drastically since its launch in late 2017.
• Whether you've taken a break from "Destiny" or you've never played Bungie's sci-fi shooter before, "Destiny 2" is absolutely worth giving a try.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

There are a lot of incredible video games worth playing right now. But if you're looking for a game you can really sink your teeth and time into, there's no other game I can recommend more than "Destiny 2."

"Destiny 2," which is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, originally launched in September 2017, but the game has evolved considerably since then. At launch, there wasn't much to do, activities didn't offer many rewards, and the rewards you would get were often repetitive since every gun had static perks. It had promise, but it was ultimately pretty boring. Players were furious that the sequel had seemed to take so many steps backward since the original "Destiny."

Much has changed since those early days. Through six different expansions (now called "seasons"), and dozens of game updates that helped players live out their power fantasies of becoming a superhero in space, "Destiny 2" has grown into a game that doesn't run out of activities, or surprises. And it's about to get even better this fall, with the ability to pick up your game on other platforms (so you can start on a PlayStation 4 and continue your character on PC), and the move to make the base game of "Destiny 2" free to everyone.

I've poured hundreds of hours into "Destiny 2," and I still find myself staying up late most nights chasing after the game's many rewards. If you've never played "Destiny," or you've taken a break from the game since it launched, here's why it's the perfect time to jump in right now.

SEE ALSO: One of the most terrifying and rewarding games I've ever played is just $20 right now

It's a game about being a superhero in space. What's not to like?

In "Destiny 2," you're a Guardian from Earth, someone who's been given supernatural abilities and the power to resurrect themselves countless times. The game is about navigating your existence as a Guardian, exploring the universe as a protector of Earth, but also about making yourself even more powerful by defeating enemies and finding new gear.

You can customize your character to a great degree, and creating multiple characters lets you experience the game in different ways. Since your Guardian can be a Warlock, Titan, or Hunter, creating a new character gives you subclass-specific armor and abilities, which gives the game incredibly deep replay value.

You'll never run out of stuff to do.

A lot of video games have this problem: They give you an incredible sandbox to play in, but you run out of stuff to actually play with, which would keep the sandbox feeling fresh.

"Destiny" never has this problem. The game is all about getting more powerful through the acquisition of weapons and armor that make you more potent at killing hostile alien creatures — the crux of the game. Bungie, the game's developer, is constantly adding new gear and environments for people to play in on a weekly and monthly basis, which means the sandbox is constantly expanding and growing deeper at the same time.

There are activities for every type of person: If you want to casually do stuff solo, you have missions, quest lines, adventures, and patrols. If you want to play with friends or random players, you have strikes, the Crucible (for player-versus-player matches), and coordinated activities like Blind Well and Menagerie. If you want a deep experience with difficult gameplay and even some puzzle-solving, "Destiny" also offers six-person raids, which are the most difficult activities in the game that also happen to reward the best items.

Activities feel incredibly rewarding.

There are tons of activities in "Destiny"— but no matter what you choose to do, you're going to be rewarded for it.

There are daily and weekly milestones for completing certain activities. These daily and weekly challenges offer powerful rewards that can level up your character, making you more potent in said activities. Powerful rewards also have a chance at dropping exotic items, either weapons or armor, which are the rarest and best collectibles in the game, which often give you major advantages while playing.

Rewards feel really good.

You'll be rewarded for any and every activity you complete, which gives you a chance at landing excellent legendary and exotic items.

Exotic weapons and armor are the best in the game: They're extremely rare drops that can come from any activity, and they usually offer an ability you can't find elsewhere in the game. We've ranked the best exotic weapons currently in "Destiny 2."

But even non-exotic items, like legendary armor and weapons, are worth chasing because they can roll with random perks. And there's always a "god roll" version of an item to chase after — a perfect hand cannon for Crucible matches, for example, or a perfect bow for world activities — because the assortment of random perks can synergize so well that your gun feels vastly different than the same gun, with different perks. So there's a ton of incentive to keep playing for rewards, and to actually examine the rewards you get.

The basics of the game — combat and traversal — have never felt so good.

Sorry, other video games: There is no better first-person shooter out there than "Destiny 2," period. Every gun feels unique and different, from how it looks to how it performs and even how it sounds.

But exploring the various planets in "Destiny" is just as fun as mowing down hostile aliens. Each subclass in the game — Titan, Warlock, or Hunter — moves differently, and the armor you wear can also change how traversal works.

For example, a piece of exotic leg armor for Titans called Lion Rampants can let you glide for long periods of time, while an exotic Warlock helmet called Astrocyte Verse can let you "blink"— or jump, disappear, then reappear — long distances.

It scratches that sci-fi itch.

If you like Marvel or superhero movies, or sci-fi fantasy shows like "Game of Thrones" or "Stranger Things,""Destiny" is for you. It presents you with a plethora of worlds and alien environments that will wow you just stepping foot on them. It also offers a ton of mystery and intrigue, through backstories that are uncovered through lore you discover around each planet.

There's so much to see and do at all times, but "Destiny 2" rarely forces you down a narrow path: Instead, it gives you the canvas to create your own stories. You have missions and quests, plus other activities you can play alone or with friends. My "Destiny" experience can feel entirely different from yours, depending on our interests and which activities we like.

It's easy to play with people — your friends, or complete strangers.

While the game offers plenty of opportunities to team up with random players you encounter, it's extremely easy to find a group to play with for more coordinated activities, like the game's six-person raids.

While most in-game activities feature matchmaking, where you'll be teamed up with players in a minute or two, Bungie also created an excellent Destiny 2 app that has a tab dedicated specifically to help people find fireteams to do stuff with. You can filter fireteams by activity and join them in-game in just seconds. You can also make posts to find your own groups, for whatever activity you're trying to complete. You'll never feel alone, or like you can't get help.

The game is constantly growing through updates.

Bungie releases major updates to the game about once every three months or so, but the game gets constant updates through secret quests and time-gated events that seem to appear every couple of weeks. Plus there is an ongoing rotation of seasonal events, like the monthly Iron Banner tournaments, which keep the game feeling fresh since they offer unique rewards.

In this current summer season, which Bungie calls the "Season of Opulence," players have a new six-player activity called the Menagerie, and a new area to house all of your "Destiny" accomplishments called the Tribute Hall (which comes with its own quests). Soon, "Destiny 2" will add its "Solstice of Heroes" event that will let players build nifty pieces of armor through activities and quests. It's going to be a busy summer before Bungie releases its next big expansion to "Destiny" this fall, called "Shadowkeep."

The game is about to get a massive influx of players, since the base game is going to be free.

Starting this fall, "Destiny 2" will offer a free tier for the first time.

"Destiny 2: New Light" will let people experience the first year of "Destiny 2," which means the base campaign, and the first two expansions ("Curse of Osiris" and "Warmind") are free. This also means the content that was released during this time is also free to play and experience, including all of the raids released in the first year of "Destiny 2."This Reddit post has a good breakdown of everything "New Light" does and doesn't offer.

"New Light" will be a great opportunity for people to dip their toes into "Destiny." But if you do like the game, it's totally worth investing your money for the full experience. I own a lot of video games, but given how much time I've spent in "Destiny 2" (hundreds of hours), I can say it's easily one of the best values you can get out of any video game.

The people who make "Destiny 2" are listening to their community's feedback, through Bungie's forums and the Destiny subreddit, and have been implementing the best ideas to improve the game.

It feels really good as a player to know that the people actually making the game you play are listening to fan feedback.

That's part of what's kept me interested in "Destiny" over all of these years. Yes, the game is constantly growing, and there's a ton of stuff to do at all times, but that's because players have gradually molded the game into something they want to play more of. Through constant suggestions and constructive criticism on Bungie's forums and Reddit, Bungie has implemented many of the best ideas to make the game more fun, deep, and playable.

Players wanted to see lore in the game; Bungie added the ability to read any and all lore, right in the game, instead of having to visit a website to read about the world of "Destiny" (this was the case previously). Players wanted a place to house their many accomplishments, and enjoy a no-pressure shooting gallery to test out weapons; Bungie added the Tribute Hall this month, which offers all of the above. Players wanted more secret missions, and surprises; Bungie has added a handful of secret questlines that reward unique gear. The list goes on.

Considering how far "Destiny" has come since September 2017, I'm looking forward to seeing how the game will change and grow in the years to come.

• "Avengers: Endgame" is available on digital HD Tuesday and "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn is having fun sharing some behind-the-scenes footage of his brother from the set of the sequel. 
• Gunn shared a short three-second clip on Twitter showing the Avengers gathering together to save the world. But you'll want to keep your eye on one of the stars who is walking while crouched low to the ground. 
• That's Gunn's brother, Sean. While Bradley Cooper may voice Rocket Racoon, Sean Gunn has acted out Rocket's movements and facial expressions since 2014's "GotG" alongside his brother. 
• If you've never seen a behind-the-scenes photo of Sean Gunn on set, you may not have realized that Rocket isn't just CGI. Gunn usually wears a blue or green unitard to bring the character to life. 
• "Contrary to popular belief, he's not a stand-in as much of Rocket's acting and facial expressions are Sean's," wrote James Gunn. "And yes it's hilarious every time."
• The "Avengers: Endgame" Blu-ray and DVD will be available Tuesday, August 13. You can watch the short clip below.

Join the conversation about this story »

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• The number of superhero movies has inflated rapidly in the past two decades.
• Multiple actors have played the same Marvel and DC characters in prequels, reboots, and after re-casts.
• Here are 50 examples of that overlap.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.
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Superheroes have always captured our imaginations, but in the past two decades, their stories are being told onscreen in unprecedented numbers.

Thanks to the superhero movie renaissance, multiple actors have been cast as the same Marvel and DC characters in a variety of movies, including prequels and reboots. Various TV networks have also gotten in on the fun, particularly The CW's"Arrowverse."

Here are 50 notable examples of that overlap.

Michael Keaton played Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton's "Batman" (1989) and "Batman Returns" (1992).

Keaton refused to return for a third Batman film because it "wasn't any good."

"[The film] just wasn't any good, man,"he told The Guardian. "I tried to be patient, but after a certain point, I was like, 'I can't take this any more, this is going to be horrible.'"

"But, look," he continued, "there was some really horrible taste in the '90s, and I probably contributed to that, unfortunately."

Val Kilmer played the caped crusader in "Batman Forever" (1995).

"Batman Forever" was the final film in Tim Burton's trilogy, even though it was helmed by a different director and Kilmer replaced Keaton as the titular hero.

George Clooney became Batman for the 1997 film "Batman & Robin."

He's since admitted that he "screwed it up" and even advised Ben Affleck not to take the role.

"I wasn't good in it and it wasn't a good film," he said on The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" Podcast.

Christian Bale played Batman in the "Dark Knight" trilogy.

Bale launched his turn as Bruce Wayne with "Batman Begins" in 2005. He reprised the role for "The Dark Knight" in 2008 and "The Dark Knight Rises" in 2012.

Most recently, Ben Affleck played Batman in "Batman v Superman" (2016) and "Justice League" (2017).

In early 2019, Affleck told Jimmy Kimmel that he planned to officially hang up his cape.

"I tried to direct a version of it and worked with a really good screenwriter, but just couldn't come up with a version, I couldn't crack it," Affleck said. "So I thought it was time to let someone else take a shot at it. They got some really good people, so I'm excited."

Robert Pattinson has been confirmed as the next Batman on the big screen.

Warner Bros. confirmed that Pattinson will star in a new Batman series, helmed by director Matt Reeves and expected to hit theaters in 2021.

Lynda Carter famously portrayed Wonder Woman on the '70s TV series.

Carter, who was crowned Miss World United States in 1972, saw her acting career (and cultural impact) skyrocket when she was cast as the titular hero on ABC's "Wonder Woman." The show moved to CBS for its second and third seasons, rechristened "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman."

"'Oh, women are gonna be so jealous of you,'"Carter said a CBS producer warned her. "Well, I said, 'Not a chance. They won't be, because I'm not playing her that way. I want women to want to be me, or be my best friend!'"

Carter later made a cameo in the 2005 film "Sky High" as the principal of a high school for superheroes: "I'm not Wonder Woman, you know," she quipped.

Adrianne Palicki wore the costume for a short time for a 2011 NBC pilot.

Palicki made a name for herself on the cult-favorite TV show "Friday Night Lights."

She scored the coveted Wonder Woman role on NBC's pilot, which was being produced by David E Kelley, the man behind shows such as "Boston Legal" and "Ally McBeal." Ultimately, NBC decided not to order the pilot to series.

"I was devastated when the pilot didn't go,"Palicki told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. "But I also look at it, like, I got paid to wear that costume. And that is one of the coolest moments of my life running down Hollywood Boulevard. Like, that was so cool. And I was -- how lucky am I."

Gal Gadot began playing Wonder Woman on the big screen in 2016, and is set to return in 2020.

Gadot made her onscreen debut as Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, in 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." She reprised the role in 2017 for "Justice League" and her own solo film, which was widely praised by critics and audiences alike.

Gadot has wrapped filming on her solo sequel, titled "Wonder Woman: 1984,"which is slated for a 2020 release.

Eric Bana starred in the 2003 film "Hulk."

"I'm fascinated by the people who hated that movie and feel compelled to watch it again, which always blows my mind,"Bana told HuffPost in 2013. "But, yeah, it is what it is and I certainly don't regret doing it."

He also said he considers himself "so lucky" that the film wasn't given a sequel.

Edward Norton launched Bruce Banner's story in the MCU with "The Incredible Hulk" (2008).

"The Incredible Hulk,"directed by Louis Leterrier, told the hero's origin story. Norton was set to reprise his role in subsequent MCU movies. But just before filming "The Avengers,"Marvel released a statement about dismissing Norton because they were looking for "an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members."

After his role was recast, Norton claimed that he had "wanted a better script."

Mark Ruffalo replaced Norton as the Hulk in "The Avengers" (2012) and continued the role until "Endgame" (2019).

While Ruffalo never starred in another solo Hulk film — and likely never will— he portrayed Bruce Banner and his green alter-ego in "The Avengers" (2012), "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015), "Thor: Ragnarok" (2017), "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018), and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019).

When he was cast in the role, Ruffalo told IGN that he was worried about "bringing some spark of originality and spontaneity to that character."

But after a slew of successful outings, on the verge of "Endgame's" release, Ruffalo praised the actors who came before him for building Hulk's story.

"Now I think it's about a kind of a maturity that comes to the character,"Ruffalo told Entertainment Weekly. "'Okay, it is what it is, so how do I live next to this in a way that I can still have a life? Maybe this monster is equally a part of me, and I can never really get rid of it.'"

Tobey Maguire played Peter Parker in the '00s "Spider-Man" trilogy.

Maguire was cast in the coveted role for the Sam Raimi-directed trilogy: "Spider-Man" (2002), "Spider-Man 2" (2004), and "Spider-Man 3" (2007).

"I know that some people think I'm not exciting enough or volatile enough for this kind of role, but I think that kind of criticism is absolutely off-base,"Maguire told Cinema.com before the first film was released. 

"Peter Parker is not a typical action hero," he continued. "He's probably the most down-to-earth, most carefully drawn, and least plastic of comic book figures. For me, it's a role that I knew that I could pull off without disappointing people. And once people see the movie, I think they'll come to the same conclusion. "

Andrew Garfield starred in "The Amazing Spider-Man" in 2012 and its sequel in 2014.

When Sony 's emails were hacked in 2015, fans learned that Garfield was "let go" as Spider-Man after the underwhelming reception of his two films — largely because he didn't show up to the event where "The Amazing Spider-Man 3" was set to be announced.

Garfield told The Guardian in 2016 that taking on the role of Spider-Man was "exquisite and terrifying and incredible," but he was "naive to the whole process of making one of those big-budget films."

Tom Holland was cast as the MCU's Spider-Man in 2015.

After "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" under-performed at the box office, Sony (which owns the rights to Spider-Man) and Disney (which owns the rights to The Avengers) made a deal to bring Peter Parker into the MCU.

Holland was announced as the hero's newest incarnation shortly after. He made his debut in "Captain America: Civil War" (2016) and reprised the role in "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018), "Avengers: Endgame" (2019), and two solo movies: "Spider-Man: Homecoming" (2017) and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" (2019).

Read more: 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' is the perfect follow-up to 'Avengers: Endgame' if you were left sobbing at the movie's end

Stan Lee has said that Holland is exactly what he envisioned when he wrote the character.

Nicholas Hammond played Peter Parker on the CBS show "The Amazing Spider-Man" from 1977 to 1979.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" was the hero's first live-action onscreen appearance. CBS canceled the show after just 13 episodes.

The character's famous co-creator, Marvel behemoth Stan Lee, once said he was "very unhappy" with the adaptation.

"With 'Spider-Man,' I felt the people who did the live-action series left out the very elements that made the comic book popular," he said. "They left out the humor. They left out the human interest and personality and playing up characterizations and personal problems."

Aaron Taylor-Johnson played Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015).

"Avengers: Age of Ultron" introduced Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, aka Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, into the MCU.

In the comics, the Maximoff twins are the mutant children of X-Men villain Magneto. But because 20th Century Fox owned the"X-Men"movie rights, Disney couldn't use that backstory in "Age of Ultron."

Instead, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch got their powers from the Mind Stone: super-speed and telekinesis, respectively. But while Scarlet Witch went on to play a major role in the MCU, her twin brother was killed in his first film.

Evan Peters was introduced as Quicksilver in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014).

Evan Peters' young, rambunctious version of Quicksilver became an instant fan favorite in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014). He reprised his role as the super-speedy mutant in "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016) and "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019).

Read more: Why Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are allowed to appear in both the 'X-Men' and 'Avengers' movies

Peters told Collider that he was "bummed" when Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver died in "Age of Ultron."

Famke Janssen played Jean Grey, aka Phoenix, in the '00s "X-Men" trilogy.

Janssen took on the role of Jean Grey for the first "X-Men" film in 2000. She reprised her role in 2003's "X2" and transformed into Pheonix for "X-Men: The Last Stand" in 2006.

"I never knew — I don't think any of us had any understanding of how popular our first movie was going to be and that it was gonna live on for 15 plus years," she said at Comic Con after the final film's release. "I think we're done, but it was really great while it lasted and it lasted for a long time."

Sophie Turner was introduced as Jean Grey in "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016) and starred in "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019).

Turner has said that playing Sansa Stark on HBO's "Game of Thrones" helped her land the role in the newer "X-Men" series.

"I think Famke played Jean incredibly well, but also, I'm playing a younger version of her,"Turner told IGN in 2015. "I want to emulate Famke in a sense, because she has to seem like the Jean in the first two movies, but I'm also going to put my own twist on her. I think I'm also going to take inspiration from the comics."

Read more:Why the latest 'X-Men' movie, 'Dark Phoenix,' was doomed from the start

Patrick Stewart played Professor X in seven feature films, beginning with "X-Men" in 2000.

After "Star Trek," Stewart was initially reluctant about starring in another franchise, but says director Bryan Singer persuaded him. He announced he would retire from the "X-Men" universe after starring in 2017's "Logan."

"I realized there will never be a better, a more perfect, a more sensitive, emotional, and beautiful way of saying 'au revoir' to Charles Xavier than this movie,"he told the A.V. Club. "So, I told [Hugh Jackman] that same evening, 'I'm done too. It's all over.'"

James McAvoy took on the role of Professor X for "X-Men: First Class" in 2011.

McAvoy signed on to play the telepathic superhero for the 2011 prequel.

"You have set it in a completely different time and you are also taking these people to a much earlier point in their personal development as well as their physical and super development,"he told IGN at the time. "What's fun is you get to figure out who were they in the other films."

"For me, Charles Xavier is a monk," he continued. "He's like a selfless, ego-less almost sexless force for the betterment of humanity and mortality. And getting to kind of go, 'Alright, well he's got to be different from that.' It's quite fun because the complete opposite of that is an ego-fueled, sexed up self-serving dude. And not going too far with it, but he's definitely got an ego and he's definitely got a sex drive as well."

McAvoy reprised the role in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014), "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016), and "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019).

Rebecca Romijn originally played Mystique.

Romijn was introduced as Raven Darkhölme, aka Mystique, aka Magneto's loyal second-in-command, in "X-Men" (2000). She was featured in the role throughout the trilogy.

Romijn told Digital Spy in 2014 that she would "absolutely" be interested in returning to the franchise.

Jennifer Lawrence portrayed Mystique in four "X-Men" movies.

Lawrence was introduced as the mutant in "X-Men: First Class" (2011). She went on to reprise the role in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014) and "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016). At that point, her contract had expired and she nearly declined to return for "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019).

"I love these movies — it's just the paint," Lawrence told EW on the set of "Apocalypse" in 2015.

Lawrence, who was 20 years old when she starred in "First Class," said she "didn't care about fumes and toxins" at first.

"Now I'm almost 25 and I'm like, 'I can't even pronounce this and that's going in my nose? I'm breathing that?'" she said.

When Simon Kinberg signed on to write and produce "Dark Phoenix," Lawrence said she couldn't turn her friend down.

James Marsden played Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, in the original "X-Men" trilogy.

Marsden recently said he'd be "down" to reprise the role, now that the X-Men can be introduced into the MCU.

"I think that world, there just are no rules," he recently told ComicBook.com. "You can do whatever you want. If there's some iteration down the line where we're involved... that's been a special thing to be a part of for a good period of my life and I love those fans and I love playing that character, so yeah, I'd be totally open to that."

Tye Sheridan was introduced as Cyclops in "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016).

Sheridan's Cyclops takes on a leadership role in "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019).

It's really exciting,"Sheridan said during WonderCon. "I think he grows a lot over the course of this film and becomes much more of a leader of the X-Men. It's fun to play the progression and explore that."

Kelsey Grammer played Hank McCoy, aka Beast, in "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006).

Although Beast is an founding member of the X-Men in the comics, he only appeared in the final film of the original "X-Men" trilogy.

"Beast was a riot, I think he was underused,"Grammer told ComicBook.com in 2017. "I believe that they should have done another Beast movie, you know with my Beast."

Nicholas Hoult portrayed Beast in four "X-Men" movies, starting with "X-Men: First Class" in 2011.

"The 'X-Men' crowd really grew up together. It's been a good eight, nine years making those movies," Hoult told Evening Standard in January, ahead of the release of "Dark Phoenix."

"The really beautiful thing about this last film," he continued, "is that [writer and director] Kim Berger has given me somewhere nice and new to experiment and go with the character. Which is cool."

Halle Berry played Storm in all three original "X-Men" movies in 2000, 2003, and 2006.

Berry portrayed the powerful, weather-controlling mutant in the original "X-Men" trilogy. She even appeared for a small cameo role in "Days of Future Past" (2014).

Alexandra Shipp played Storm in "Apocalypse" (2016) and "Dark Phoenix" (2019).

Shipp said she "definitely cried" on the last day of shooting "Dark Phoenix."

"It didn't feel like an end to an era, though," she told TheWrap, "because Disney hadn't purchased Fox at the time so it was just like summer camp was ending, and it was one of those feelings, like, 'I'll miss you guys!' We definitely felt it at the premiere though, like, 'Yeah, this is the end.' It's bittersweet."

Read more:14 major movie franchises that Disney will own after buying Fox, from 'Alien' to 'X-Men'

Ioan Gruffudd played Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, in "Fantastic Four" (2005) and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" (2007).

"He's a scientist, but also a bit of a dork or geek. He's completely blind to the fact that Sue Storm is in love with him. And he certainly becomes their leader towards the end, and I hope I represent that well,"Gruffudd told ComicBookMovie.com ahead of the first film's release.

Miles Teller played Mr. Fantastic in the 2015 reboot.

Despite the film's negative reception and disappointing performance at the box office, Teller said he'd be open to filming a sequel.

"I loved the cast, I loved the characters. I think it's such an interesting dynamic. I love how much they really need to rely on each other," he told JoBlo.

"Obviously you learn more as you go on," he continued. "But I wouldn't change anything. I can honestly say I've never just done something for money; I'd be really embarrassed for something like that to come out, that I had no attachment to the character, no attachment to the script. It takes a while before you're only working with the best directors, nobody's career is flawless."

Jessica Alba played Susan Storm, aka Invisible Woman, in the 2005 film and 2007 sequel.

Alba has been open about her negative experience filming"Rise of the Silver Surfer," and especially about working with director Tim Story.

"I wanted to stop acting,"she said in 2012. "The director was like, 'It looks too real. It looks too painful. Can you be prettier when you cry? Cry pretty, Jessica.' He was like, 'Don't do that thing with your face. Just make it flat. We can CGI the tears in.'"

"And I'm like, 'But there's no connection to a human being,'" she continued. "And then it got me thinking: Am I not good enough? Are my instincts and my emotions not good enough? Do people hate them so much that they don't want me to be a person? Am I not allowed to be a person in my work? And so I just said, 'F--- it. I don't care about this business anymore.'"

Kate Mara played Invisible Woman in 2015's "Fantastic Four."

"Oh yeah, I would love to be a part of 'Fantastic Four' sequel, or whatever they may or may not have in store for us,"Mara told IGN in 2016. "I know all of the guys feel the same way. We love working with each other." 

Chris Evans played Johnny Storm, aka the Human Torch, in 2004's "Fantastic Four" and the 2007 sequel.

Evans initially wasn't considered for the role of Captain America in the MCU because he had already portrayed a Marvel superhero.

"We thought, 'OK, well, he's that character. Let's keep looking,'"Marvel president Kevin Feige told The Hollywood Reporter. "And as we [continued] not finding people, we went back to the initial lists. And that brought us back to Chris. And I thought, well, Patrick Stewart played Jean-Luc Picard and Charles Xavier. Harrison Ford played Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Who cares?"

Michael B. Jordan played the Human Torch in the 2015 reboot.

After the reboot was announced, Jordan addressed racist objections to his casting in an essay for EW.

"I can see everybody's perspective, and I know I can't ask the audience to forget 50 years of comic books," he wrote. "But the world is a little more diverse in 2015 than when the Fantastic Four comic first came out in 1961. Plus, if Stan Lee writes an email to my director saying, 'You're good. I'm OK with this,' who am I to go against that?"

Michael Chiklis originally portrayed Ben Grimm, aka the Thing.

Chiklis told the New York Times that playing the Thing was "a physical and psychological nightmare."

"Once they glued the suit on me, I couldn't get it off without help, no matter how hard I struggled," he said. "I had six people around me all day, to take me out of the suit, put an air conditioner in my head and feed me water. I couldn't eat real food, and I lived on protein drinks during the entire shoot. Going to the bathroom was horrendous."

However, the actor still teased his willingness to reprise the role after Disney acquired the rights to the Fantastic Four gang.

"Could it be clobberin time?"he wrote on Twitter, alongside a photo of the Thing punching the Hulk.

Jamie Bell played The Thing in 2015.

Bell admitted he and his co-stars were "bitterly disappointed" with the film.

"There were several things on that movie I was clearly not privy to because I'm just an actor and I just do my stuff on set," he told the Los Angeles Times.

"But with something like that, everything starts with the best of intentions," he continued. "A production begins with the idea to make something that's unique and original and with integrity. I think the film really strived towards those goals. I don't know what happened between the launch of the voyage and the arrival."

Christopher Reeve played Superman in four solo movies, from 1978 to 1987.

Reeve became Clark Kent after initially failing to impress the producers, who wanted to cast an A-lister like Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, or Paul Newman.

Reeve reportedly refused to wear a "muscle shirt" for his second audition and bulked up for the screen test. He made his onscreen debut in "Superman" (1978). He reprised the role in "Superman II" (1980), "Superman III" (1983), and "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" (1987).

"It was absolutely amazing,"Reeve said of his first time seeing the original film. "It got a standing ovation at the end. And I'll never forget that moment when Superman flies for the first time at the Fortress of Solitude. That got tremendous applause, that Superman had finally taken off."

Brandon Routh played Superman in the 2006 film "Superman Returns."

"Superman Returns" paid homage to the first two Superman films starring Reeves, while ignoring the second two films, which had more disappointing performances at the box office.

Warner Bros. originally intended to make a sequel to "Superman Returns," but canceled its plans after the film failed to break even on its production budget.

"Being a young individual of 24, 25, I thought, 'Oh, I'm going to do this for years and make multiple movies.' And that of course didn't happen," Routh recently told Entertainment Weekly at Cinema-Con.

Routh currently plays Ray Palmer, aka The Atom, on "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." He's expected to reprise his role as Superman on the CW's annual Arrowverse crossover event in December.

Henry Cavill became Superman when Warner Bros. rebooted the character for "Man of Steel" (2013).

"What I can say is that it's a modernization of the character and a very realistic view of one, obviously, very fantastic individual,"Cavill told Cineplex before the "Man of Steel" premiere. "It's an unreal situation, but it's approached from a very practical viewpoint. We wanted to make the character easier to identify with."

Cavill reprised the role for "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" in 2016 and "Justice League" in 2017. He reportedly told a fan at San Diego Comic-Con that he'd like to continue playing Superman for a "Man of Steel" sequel. 

Tom Welling starred as Clark Kent on The CW's "Smallville."

"Smallville," which told the story of Clark Kent before he took on the identity of Superman, aired for 10 seasons from 2001 until 2011.

"That show is about a teenager trying to figure out who he is,"Welling told EW after the series finale aired. "They felt that once Clark put on the cape and the suit, life became too easy, in a sense. They wanted to focus on who this character was before that."

Tyler Hoechlin currently recurs as Superman on The CW's "Supergirl."

Although the network reportedly has no plans for Hoechlin's Superman to reappear on "Supergirl," he is scheduled to return on the CW's annual Arrowverse crossover event in December.

Read more:Tyler Hoechlin's TV version of Superman is the best Man of Steel we've had in decades

Helen Slater starred as the titular hero in the 1984 film "Supergirl."

"I don't like to say I regret anything, it's not my style, but I do quasi-regret that the script didn't connect as much, and that it didn't go on to be bigger,"Slater told Den of Geek in 2010.

"I talked with comic book writers about this over the years, and even in my anthropology class — I'm working on a college degree right now — we talk about whether there's something about a Supergirl that isn't quite landing," she continued. "Why don't we see more than that? Did they fashion her too much on Superman, they didn't know how to make it more? I don't know the answer to it."

Melissa Benoist currently plays Kara Danvers on The CW's "Supergirl."

Since the series premiere in 2015, Benoist has worn a skirt and tights in the role. On the upcoming season, Supergirl will ditch her classic look for navy pants.

Benoist said during the panel that wearing pants felt like "the perfect evolution" for her character. She also elaborated in an interview with "Extra TV".

Read more:The CW's first official image of Supergirl wearing pants is out, and fans are praising the new look

"I've been thinking about it for a long time. Frankly, logistically, when we went to Vancouver, it was much colder than Los Angeles, so the skirt wasn't really practical," she said, referring to where the season was filmed. "But more than that, like, just the evolution of Kara — it just feels appropriate, like it's time."

The actress also said that the new suit has greater flexibility and called it "so comfortable" and "really empowering."

Jason Momoa played Aquaman in "Justice League" (2017) and the "Aquaman" solo film (2018).

Momoa's Aquaman— a grittier, more brooding version of the classically blonde-haired, blue-eyed hero — made his live-action theatrical debut in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016).

Despite mixed reviews of his solo outing, the actor says he was "passionate" about doing a sequel, which is currently slated for a 2022 release.

Read more:9 details you probably didn't know about the making of 'Aquaman'

Alan Ritchson previously played Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, on multiple episodes of "Smallville."

Ritchson's "environmentally conscious surfer dude" version of the aquatic hero was introduced on season five, episode four of the CW's "Smallville." He reprised his role on seasons six, eight, and 10.

Justin Hartley played Arthur Curry in a pilot for the TV series, "Aquaman."

"Smallville" creators Al Gough and Miles Millar had big plans for an "Aquaman" TV series on The WB. The pilot, written by Gough and Millar, starred Hartley as a super-powered dive shop owner in Florida who finds out he's the lost Prince of Atlantis.

By the time the pilot was ready for a pickup, however, the WB didn't exist anymore. The network had merged with UPN and created the CW Network, which opted not to order the "Aquaman" pilot to series.

Hartley went on to play Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow, on "Smallville."

"Everyone started to say 'Aquaman' was a sure thing, it was going to be a show. I just kept telling myself I got hired to do a pilot. Just do this pilot and see what happens,"Hartley told MediaVillage.

"My work on 'Aquaman' is something that I'm really proud of, as far as the relationships that I developed with the creators of 'Aquaman' and also 'Smallville,' and the cast and the crew. People got to see my work ethic," he continued. "I think that translated into a role on 'Smallville,' which is great. That's what I was always told as a kid. 'Work hard. Work hard. Work hard.' It definitely does pay off."

Stephen Amell has played Oliver Queen on The CW's "Arrow" since 2012.

"Arrow" will come to an end this year after an eight-season run.

"Playing Oliver Queen has been the greatest professional experience of my life... but you can't be a vigilante forever,"Amell wrote on Twitter.

Ezra Miller played The Flash in "Justice League" (2017) and is set to reprise the role for a solo movie.

A solo "Flash" movie starring Miller has faced some setbacks since it was announced five years ago — especially following the commercial and critical failure of "Justice League."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Miller himself has stepped in to help rewrite the script with a "darker take on the material."

Grant Gustin currently portrays Barry Allen on The CW's "Flash."

Gustin's version of the Scarlet Speedster is getting a stylish redesign and a new villain for the upcoming sixth season of "The Flash."

• Marvel just released a blooper reel for "Avengers: Endgame," which is now available on digital. The Blu-ray will be released on Tuesday, August 13.
• Chris Pratt can be seen gathered with costars Tom Holland, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, and others, warning them not to "pull a hamstring" as they prepare for a fight sequence. 
• "I can't believe I filmed a whole movie with this thing on,"Chris Evans says as he touches his Captain America helmet. 
• "See what I have to deal with here,"Scarlett Johansson jokingly says as Jeremy Renner makes a funny face after they look at each other. "Ten years of this s---."
• Watch the full video below. 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Awkwafina, who's promoting her partnership with travel app HotelTonight, spoke to INSIDER about her involvement in recent films that contribute to more representation in Hollywood.
• "I think that the response to the movies, especially with 'Crazy Rich Asians' and now with 'The Farewell,' has been very telling, in that they've been missing something," the 31-year-old actress and rapper told us. 
• She added: "I think that the work that we've been doing doesn't completely answer that kind of representation. I think there's always going to be more representation to be had, but I think that they're definitely going to set a stage for more stories to be told, more actors like me to be featured, more directors, more writers."
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

Awkwafina says there's a need for more representation in Hollywood, but she's "proud" to be part of diverse movies.

"I think that the response to the movies, especially with 'Crazy Rich Asians' and now with 'The Farewell,' has been very telling, in that they've been missing something," Awkwafina, who's promoting her partnership with travel app HotelTonight, told INSIDER.

In recent years, the 31-year-old, who rose to fame as a rapper, has gained popularity with roles in "Ocean's Eight" (as Constance), "Crazy Rich Asians" (Peik Lin Goh), and her latest movie titled "The Farewell" (Billi). The films have also been praised for telling stories about underrepresented groups.

Read more: 'Crazy Rich Asians' is an extravagant, hilarious, and poignant examination of Asian American and Asian cultures that revolutionizes the studio rom-com

"I think that the work that we've been doing doesn't completely answer that kind of representation," Awkwafina told us. "I think there's always going to be more representation to be had, but I think that they're definitely going to set a stage for more stories to be told, more actors like me to be featured, more directors, more writers, all that."

She continued: "I think that it's just a really cool time. I'm really happy and very, very, very proud to be a part of that."

Next, Awkwafina (whose real name is Nora Lum) will make her Marvel Cinematic Universe in the upcoming film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings." The movie hits theaters on Friday, February 12, 2021. 

Few details have been revealed about the movie, but Sium Liu will play the titular character, who was introduced in the comics in 1973. Awkwafina's involvement in the film was recently announced at San Diego Comic-Con, but it's unclear who she'll portray. 

"I couldn't believe it," the actress told us of the moment she found out she'd be part of the Marvel movie. "Then I looked more into who Shang-Chi was and I talked to [director Destin Daniel Cretton] about it. I'm just really excited for it and I'm really happy for Simu."

• Read more:
• Marvel just announced all of its movies for the next 2 years — here they all are
• How 'Crazy Rich Asians' compares to the highest-grossing studio romantic comedies since 1997
• 9 of the best outfits from 'Crazy Rich Asians'

Join the conversation about this story »

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• "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order" brings the classic series of Marvel beat 'em up games to the Nintendo Switch after a 13-year hiatus.
• Up to four players can join together to fight against Thanos and The Black Order with more than 30 playable Marvel superheroes.
• While the original "Marvel Ultimate Alliance" games were mostly based on Marvel comics, the new game incorporates popular designs based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3" is a perfect game to take on the go and share with friends, and improves on the formula that made the series iconic. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Avengers have been dominating the box office for the last decade, but video games featuring the full cast of Marvel superheroes have been few and far between. Luckily, Nintendo has revived a classic series of beat 'em up games to help Marvel fans get their fix.

"Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order" was released for the Nintendo Switch on July 19th and features more than 30 playable Marvel superheroes, from the Avengers to the X-Men. Up to four players can team up locally on one Switch or with separate consoles online. If you're playing alone you'll be able to swap between a team of four Marvel heroes whenever you want.

When "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2" was released back in 2006 the series relied heavily on Marvel comics for inspiration, but the latest game feels more like a product of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Designs for characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy are clearly based on their MCU counterparts and the story is strikingly similar to "Avengers: Infinity War."

Nintendo's decision to revive the "Marvel Ultimate Alliance" series comes at the peak of Marvel mania– "Avengers Endgame" became the highest grossing movie of all-time just a day after the game's release. While "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3" has obvious influences from the movie franchise, it retains a style and personality that stays true to the comics and the earlier games in the series. Most importantly, keeping the game as a Switch exclusive means that Marvel fans will need to pick up Nintendo's increasingly popular to get their fix of Avengers action.

In contrast, Square Enix's "Avengers" game has been harshly criticized for using knockoff versions of the original "Avengers" actors, and the game wont arrive until May of 2020. By then Marvel will be releasing a fresh slate of movies with a new lineup of actors. 

Read more: The huge new 'Avengers' game is getting roasted because its superheroes look like knockoffs from the movies — here's how they compare

Whether you're a Marvel fan or not, "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3" offers simple, cooperative fun that's perfect to take on the go with the Switch. Dedicated players will enjoy powering up their favorite heroes and customizing their abilities and outfits to make the perfect team of superheroes.

Here's what it's like playing "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order," one of the year's best Nintendo Switch exclusives:

SEE ALSO: The Nintendo Switch is the hottest game console in the world — here are its 20 best games

At the start of "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3" you'll take control of the Guardians of the Galaxy as they encounter an abandoned warship.

You'll always have a team of four heroes as you explore different parts of the Marvel universe. If you're playing alone you can swap between them.

A quick trip to the pause menu will let you add friends to the game right away with no problem. Up to four people can team up online as well.

Along with more than 30 playable heroes, "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3" features dozens of villains, like Nebula and the Kree army.

Things take a turn for the worse when the Guardians encounter one of the Infinity Stones, a set of cosmic artifacts that can re-shape the world.

Just like in the movies, the evil titan Thanos wants to gather the six Infinity Stones and wipe out half of all life in the galaxy.

The Marvel heroes need to stop Thanos and his generals, who call themselves The Black Order.

After learning the ropes, you'll unlock a roster of about a dozen heroes, and more will join the alliance as the story continues.

Every new hero gets a brief introduction, so don't worry if you don't recognize them all right away.

You'll even end up adding some villains and anti-heroes to your alliance as you progress through the story.

Depending on which four heroes you play with, you can get special bonuses for picking heroes who are related. For example, playing with a team full of Avengers will give you extra energy, and playing with a team of heroes with super strength will boost their strength even further.

Your heroes will level up as they gain fighting experience, unlocking new abilities in the process.

Each hero has their own unique stats and traits. Traits can range from special abilities like flying to passive skills like fire resistance. You can equip items to boost specific stats too.

Every hero has four unlockable abilities as well, and they'll increase in strength if you continue to play the same hero.

Each chapter of "Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3" will bring you to an iconic location in the Marvel universe, each of which has a distinct style.

While the camera usually hovers above the action, some moments add a bit of cinematic flair to keep things interesting.

"Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3" isn't the prettiest game around, but it still looks good when the action is flowing.

Generally, the graphics are decent, but there's a pretty clear difference when you're playing the game in portable mode.

The game can also suffer from a bit of slowdown when the action gets too intense on screen.

While the game has a few flaws, the mix of memorable characters, bombastic boss fights and steady beat 'em up action makes the game a fun experience from start to finish.

"Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3" is an action game more than a decade in the making, and it's a perfect exclusive for the Nintendo Switch.

• Angelina Jolie, who will star in Marvel's "The Eternals," told People that her six children are excited to see her "strong" in the movie. 
• "What's really moving to me is that they want to see me strong, and so it's less to see me in a film, but they're just happy I will be strong and having fun," she said. 
• Jolie will portray an immortal named Thena who has super strength and can fly in the comics. 
• The actress also told People that she's doing "everything from swords to ballet" to prepare for the role. 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

Angelina Jolie says that her kids are thrilled to see her "strong" in Marvel's upcoming "Eternals" movie.

"What's really moving to me is that they want to see me strong, and so it's less to see me in a film, but they're just happy I will be strong and having fun," the 44-year-old actress told People.

Jolie has six children named Maddox,  Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne.

She also told People that she's doing "everything from swords to ballet" to prepare, and knows that her new role will challenge her.

"She's a warrior," Jolie said. "I'm going to have to work very hard to give the Marvel Cinematic Universe the Thena they deserve."

"The Eternals" focuses on a group of immortals who have special skills, like super strength and the ability to fly. In the comics, Jolie's character was born in Olympia and is the daughter of Zuras. 

Read more: Marvel just announced its next big superhero group the Eternals. Here's the cast and who they're playing.

The "Maleficent" star's involvement in the film was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con on July 20. At the event,  Marvel officially announced the movies and actors that will be part of phase four of the MCU.

"I'm so excited to be here," Jolie said on stage at SDCC. "I'm going to work 10 times harder because I think what it means to be part of the MCU, what it means to be an Eternal, to be a part of this family, I know what we all need to do. We have all read the script, we all know what the task ahead is, and we know what you deserve, so we are all going to be working very, very hard."

Jolie will star alongside Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Lia McHugh, and Don Lee in "The Eternals," which is set to hit theaters on Friday, November 6, 2020.

• Read more about the Marvel Cinematic Universe:
• Marvel just announced all of its movies for the next 2 years — here they all are
• Watch the 'Avengers: Endgame' stars break character in a newly released blooper reel
• 14 Marvel stars who shared the challenges of wearing superhero costumes

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Warning: There are spoilers ahead for "Avengers: Endgame."
• The "Endgame" home release is filled with special features and a three-hour commentary from the movie's directors and screenwriters.
• From how Natalie Portman's "Endgame" scene came together to some alternate versions of key scenes, INSIDER rounded up what you probably didn't know about the making of the film.
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

"Avengers: Endgame" is finally available to watch at home on digital HD.

In addition to six deleted scenes and a gag reel, the film comes with a few special features with producers and Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige. 

The best part of the home release fans will want to check out is a three-hour audio commentary to the "Avengers" sequel that provides insights into how the highest-grossing movie of all time came together. "Endgame" directors, Anthony and Joe Russo, and screenwriters, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely get together  to share the evolution of key scenes, how Hawkeye was almost in "Infinity War," and alternate versions of scenes with Nebula, that were once on the drawing board.

Before its Blu-ray release on Tuesday, August 13, INSIDER rounded up some of the best behind-the-scenes details revealed on the "Endgame" audio commentary and special features.

Marvel had a fake version of the "Infinity War" and "Endgame" scripts that they referred to as "code blue."

"We knew from the start with 'Infinity War' and 'Endgame' that these two movies were going to be the biggest in terms of security level, that we needed to protect the content," said executive producer Trinh Tran on an "Avengers: Endgame" special feature.

In order to keep secrets hidden, the only actor who received a full version of the script was Robert Downey Jr. In addition, the Marvel team had fake and real versions of the script. According to Tran, they referred to the real script as "code red." The fake version of the scripts were referred to as "code blue."

Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige says the majority of the script stayed the same. They just changed "a few key things," including the moment where Loki died in "Infinity War" and when Thanos lost his head in "Endgame."

The opening scene of "Endgame" with Jeremy Renner was originally near the end of "Infinity War."

"Endgame" opens right before Thanos snaps his fingers and wipes out half of all living things in the universe. We see Hawkeye lose his entire family, unaware of what just occurred.

"This scene was supposed to be in 'Avengers: Infinity War' after Thanos snapped his fingers," said codirector Joe Russo on the film's commentary. "We thought it might be interesting to cut to a verite scene between Hawkeye and his family." 

The Russos thought it was too disorienting and busy to have at the end of "Infinity War" when they were already cutting between people disappearing in Wakanda and in space. The start of "Endgame" wound up being the right fit for the scene to remind viewers what happened at the end of "Infinity War" and how you felt.

Visual effects were used to make Tony Stark look emaciated at the film's start in space.

As Tony leaves a message for Pepper Potts, he looks like he has lost a significant amount of weight. Robert Downey Jr. didn't really lose weight for the movie's opening scenes. 

"Our VFX team did an exceptional job of taking some weight off of him and making him look like he is on death's door," said Joe Russo.

"The intent here was to make you believe, if momentarily, that we may actually kill Tony Stark at the beginning of the film," he added. 

Read more: 61 details you may have missed in "Avengers: Endgame"

If you were confused about how Captain Marvel was able to find Tony and Nebula, there's a simple explanation.

If you saw "Infinity War," one of the end-credits scenes shows Nick Fury page Carol Danvers. According to the Russos, Captain Marvel then traveled to Avengers HQ, as seen at the end of "Infinity War," found out what Thanos did, and went off to space to find Tony and Nebula.

"The missing narrative is that she came to Earth, met the Avengers, was brought up to speed on what was happening, and that there's some sort of homing beacon on that ship that she tracks," said Joe Russo.

In an earlier version of the film, we wouldn't have seen Carol Danvers revealed until after she brought Tony and Nebula back from space.

"We felt like it was not as successful of a reveal," said Joe Russo. "We didn't like the transition."

"[Tony would] see something. The audience wouldn't see it, and then only would you reveal what happened there," screenwriter Christopher Markus said of showing Captain Marvel as the spaceship was shown landing back on Earth.

There was a hint at Thor's oncoming depression early in the film that you may have missed.

While Tony and Steve Rogers are bickering, Thor can be seen in the background eating from a bowl of bread. That was a hint at his weight gain to come in the flash-forward.

"He's chomping on a bread roll, if you notice," said codirector Anthony Russo. "Hemsworth wanted to eat something in this scene."

The Russos and screenwriters joked that the fate of the world really came down to the rat letting Scott Lang out of the Quantum Realm.

In "Infinity War," Doctor Strange saw more than 14 million outcomes where the Avengers lost against Thanos. The "Endgame" screenwriters and codirectors joked that the fate of the universe rested in the paws of the little rat who coincidentally let Scott Lang out of the quantum realm five years later. 

"Here were 14 million versions of this story where the rat did not step on that button," joked Joe Russo.

Joe Russo said it made sense to show us life on Earth through Scott Lang's eyes because it would have more of an emotional impact on the viewer.

"When you have a character that is traditionally funny, and now they're, you know, they're surrounded by pathos, it makes it doubly emotional for you," said Russo of why we follow Scott Lang discover what happened on Earth as he wanders through San Francisco.

Screenwriter Christopher Markus says they originally thought time travel was a dumb idea.

In a conversation at the 92Y in New York City in April that INSIDER attended, screenwriters Markus and Stephen McFeely said they wrote the "Infinity War" and "Endgame" scripts back-to-back.

On the "Endgame" commentary, Markus said it was tough to figure out how to get themselves out of the corner they backed themselves into at the end of "Infinity War."

He said they entertained the idea of a time machine, but then felt it was "the stupidest idea you could possibly have" to resolve the Thanos snap. 

Markus said they then realized the "Ant-Man" franchise may not make that too far-fetched.

"The 'Ant-Man' franchise, which we hadn't dealt with yet, had legitimately, if you believe the science, the seeds of a time machine in it, which was a breakthrough," said Markus.

We almost saw Professor Hulk in "Infinity War."

"The creation of Smart Hulk used to take place in 'Infinity War,'" said McFeely.

In the 2018 film, Hulk and Bruce Banner aren't getting along at all and when Bruce really needs the green guy's help, he refuses to come save the day. That moment forces Bruce to step up and be a hero and ultimately leads to the two working things out from there after the Thanos snap. 

According to McFeely, we would have seen this new version of the Hulk fighting in Wakanda at the end of the last film when Bruce needed his help.

"And at his hour of greatest need, they make some sort of compromise, and Smart Hulk rips out of the armor and beats the crap out of Cull Obsidian and destroys him," said McFeely of the alternate scene that could have taken place. 

We didn't see Professor Hulk until "Endgame" because it would have been odd for Bruce to have a victory in "Infinity War" when everyone else was suffering major losses. 

"The movie needed to just stay in its succession of losses in the third act, which meant some hustling on the part of VFX late in the game," McFeely added of how late that change was made to "Infinity War."

Joe Russo said the movie was even shown with the scenes to some test audiences and it wasn't working because the transformation happened too quickly. 

The Russos say Tony Stark thought of Peter Parker as his other child.

If you've watched "Spider-Man: Homecoming" or "Captain America: Civil War," it's clear Tony cared a lot for Peter, even if he didn't always show it. In "Endgame," we learn Peter was so important to Tony that he kept a photo of him near his father, Howard Stark, in the kitchen for years, as if he was a member of the family.

While he served as an unspoken fatherly-type figure to Peter in the MCU, it was never directly addressed in any of the movies. On the film's commentary, the Russos make the father-son connection between the two very clear. 

"This is like his other child that he's lost," Russo said of how Tony views Peter. "[That] spurs him to action. [It] makes him consider that, you know, even though he has this child [his daughter, Morgan], he still lost a child, and there may be potential to bring that other child back, and he's now in conflict."

Read more:Fans are loving a photo of Tom Holland and Lexi Rabe, and calling the 'Endgame' costars 'Tony Stark's children'

Hawkeye is traveling the world killing bad guys as a way to make sense of what happened to the world.

Seeing his entire family vanish right in front of his eyes, sent Hawkeye down a path of vengeance. When we see him about an hour into the movie, he has a new look and is mercilessly killing men in Tokyo. He's on a one-man mission.

"He's traveling the world punishing bad people who survived the snap. This is a way for him to feel some sort of purpose even though it is a dark purpose."

Bruce Banner's explanation of time travel is straight from a quantum physicist.

Marvel's time travel in "Endgame" isn't something that was just made up.

"[Banner's] explanation is essentially what we were told by genuine quantum physicists brought into the writers' room to explain time travel to us," said screenwriter Christopher Markus.

A timer was put on Hawkeye's time travel suit on purpose when he tried it out.

Director Joe Russo said the Avengers wanted to make sure he didn't decide to stay in the past with his family.

We could have seen Hawkeye attack Professor Hulk after coming back from the time travel stint.

"We did a version of this scene where Hawkeye attacks Smart Hulk because he's so angry about being pulled back," said codirector Anthony Russo. 

Instead, Black Widow runs right up to Hawkeye when he returns and Clint Barton simply tells everyone that the technology worked.

A deleted scene shows Rocket Raccoon watching the Battle of New York from "The Avengers."

Rocket's extremely confused when he finds out the Avengers spent hours fighting Thanos' Chitauri army.

"The Chitauri are the suckiest army in the galaxy," Rocket said in the scene. "Why didn't you just blow up the mother ship?"

As Rocket continues to critique the group, Tony Stark comes up behind him and shaves off part of his head.

The screenwriters make it clear that Nebula didn't know what you need to do to get the soul stone.

One of the questions we pondered while watching the film the first time around was whether or not Nebula knew that someone had to sacrifice themselves in order to get the orange Soul stone.

Nebula was the only one left alive after the Thanos snap who knew about its whereabouts. It seemed awfully convenient that she didn't volunteer to get the stone herself even though she knew a lot about it. From one perspective, it made it look like she let Hawkeye and Black Widow go willingly knowing that someone would sacrifice themselves. 

Apparently, that wasn't the case at all. 

"Nebula doesn't know about the exchange that's required at Vormir," said McFeely. "No one knows other than anybody who was there. She just knows her sister didn't come back [at the end of "Infinity War"]." 

The screenwriters have thought about Captain America running into Red Skull when returning all of the Infinity stones at the movie's end.

After the Avengers save the world, Captain America volunteers to return all of them to the exact moment in time when they first stole them. 

It's not mentioned in the movie, but that would lead to an awkward reunion of sorts for Cap when returning the soul stone. Cap doesn't know that his old foe Red Skull (from the first "Captain America" movie) is the keeper of the Infinity stone on Vormir. 

The scenes with Thor and Rocket Raccoon traveling back in time were filmed years prior while making "Infinity War."

McFeely says the scene was shot at Durham Cathedral in April 2017. It was one of a few scenes shot for "Endgame" during the filming of "Infinity War." 

The running gag about Captain America's behind may not have made it into the final film.

In the movie, Ant-Man refers to Captain America's butt as "America's a--," and it quickly became a stand-out moment in the movie among fans. 

Codirector Joe Russo referred to it as the "most controversial joke" in the movie that was hotly debated.

The scene of Natalie Portman getting out of bed in "Endgame," was from "Thor: The Dark World."

Portman didn't act out that scene for "Endgame." According to Joe Russo, it was an outtake from the second "Thor" movie. 

"We added Rocket to the shot and changed the context of the original intention of the shot," said Russo. 

Stan Lee did dress up as his younger self for the scene in 1970.

It was the last Marvel scene he filmed before he died in November 2018.

Read more:See every Stan Lee Marvel cameo

Originally, viewers wouldn't have known that 2014 Nebula was sent the future.

When 2023 Nebula gets kidnapped by Thanos, Gamora, and Nebula from 2014, we see Thanos send his loyal version of Nebula to 2023 to bring him to the future. 

The audience originally wouldn't have known which Nebula went back to 2023, but that idea was ultimately scrapped. 

"We kept this from the audience, the idea that Thanos was going to use his version of Nebula to replace future Nebula," said McFeely. "It didn't work. It was complicated and it was confusing."

The final version of the film was much more clear.

Hawkeye and Black Widow were the obvious choices for the screenwriters to go to Vormir.

It wouldn't have made sense to send Rocket Raccoon and Nebula. You need to sacrifice someone you truly love in order to get the Soul stone. They're friends, but they're not that close from what we've seen. 

"A pair of people who could arguably love each other needed to go to Vormir for this to work," said Mcfeely. "This was the obvious pairing in our minds."

The scene with Hawkeye and Black Widow could've been different.

Screenwriter Stephen McFeely said it could've been a bit more complicated with Thanos getting into the mix.

"It was Thanos sending a small army to pretend to try to stop them," said McFeely. "It was sort of awkward."

Joe Russo confirms why Black Widow cannot be brought back after her death.

Many simply thought that either the time machine or the time stone could be used to save and bring back Black Widow after she sacrificed herself. Russo says the rules of the soul stone make her death permanent.

"Red Skull very clearly says, 'It is an everlasting exchange," said Russo. "Everlasting would imply that it can't be undone."

We will get to see more of Black Widow's story in next year's standalone movie featuring Scarlett Johansson. 

Read more: Marvel just announced all of its movies for the next 2 years — here they all are

Only few people in the Marvel Cinematic can successfully wear and use the Infinity Gauntlet.

"It permanently damages the most powerful beings and some of the most powerful creatures in these movies," said Joe Russo. "Very few people can actually put that on and survive."

Seeing both the Hulk and Thanos damaged after using the stones is set up for the movie's final hour. It's heavily hinted ahead of time twice that a regular human can't wield the stones and live to tell the tale.

There was an early version of a script that showed 2014 Thanos with a decapitated Captain America.

Screenwriter Christopher Markus said there was another version of the script where Thanos would have opened up a large portal on the battlefield to come to 2023. 

"He walked up to [the Avengers] and tossed 2012 Captain America's head on the floor," said screenwriter Christopher Markus.

"For a movie that began with essentially Thanos' head on the floor, it was a shocking reversal, but perhaps a bridge too far," he added.

Anthony and Joe Russo talked about the shocking moment with Entertainment Weekly in July, saying that 2014 Thanos would have gone back in time to murder all of the Avengers in his timeline.

It's hinted at why Thanos was easily able to dismantle Cap's unbreakable shield.

Captain America's shield is supposedly to be virtually unbreakable. It's built from the strongest metal on Earth, but Thanos is able to chip away at it quite easily with his sword. 

The screenwriters confirm it doesn't seem like Thanos' sword is made of vibranium. 

"While vibranium is the strongest substance on Earth, whatever Thanos' straight razor there is made out of is stronger," said Christopher Markus.

"Well, Thanos clearly knew of Eitri," said Joe Russo, noting the character who built him the Infinity Gauntlet in the last film. 

Out of all of the heroes, Scarlet Witch is named one of the most powerful superheroes during the movie's big fight.

Scarlet Witch watched Thanos kill Vision in "Infinity War" and she goes after him in "Endgame" to get her revenge. She comes the closest of any hero to finishing him, and without any help.

"She's really the biggest threat to Thanos on this field," said McFeely. 

"She's a very powerful character," added Joe Russo. "And [Thanos] has to, in a way, cheat and sacrifice his own armies just to escape her."

In "Endgame," Russo said she's even more powerful because the pain caused by Vision's death accelerated the growth of her power. Scarlet Witch will be back in one of Disney Plus' upcoming shows, "WandaVision."

Read more: There are 7 original Marvel shows coming to Disney's streaming service — here they all are

There's a reason Tony Stark doesn't die the moment he gains control of the Iron Gauntlet.

We saw what the gauntlet did to Bruce Banner when he put the glove on. He was in excruciating pain. Tony's able to have a conversation with Thanos before snapping his fingers.

"His suit is keeping him alive here," said Joe Russo of Stark's technology. "But when he snaps those fingers..."

"It's too much," added McFeely.

Russo said the shot of Stark snapping his fingers was the last one they shot for "Endgame" during reshoots in January 2019. That was four months before the film came out.

The team thought a lot about how Tony should look in his final moments.

Joe Russo said they knew Tony's face would be half destroyed after using the gauntlet, but a lot of consideration went into how damaged it should look for the audience. 

"If it's too far, you can't look at it," said screenwriter Stephen McFeely.

"If it's not enough, then you don't feel it," said Russo.

Robert Downey Jr. was adamant that Tony Stark stayed silent in the moments before his death.

Lines were written for Stark to say goodbye, but the team said Downey Jr. was insistent he didn't say a word. 

"We scripted a lot of emotion and emoting and dialogue for him saying goodbye, and people saying goodbye to him," said McFeely.

Joe Russo added that it made sense. Using the gauntlet really incapacitated him.

Read more: 'Avengers: Endgame' star Robert Downey Jr. insisted that Tony Stark didn't speak much during his final scene

The movie's most popular line, "I love you, 3,000," wasn't added until very late in the movie.

"We only came up with the idea for the 'I love you, 3,000' at the end of the movie in post," said Joe Russo. 

According to screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the line was originally different. It was changed to 3,000 because of some inspiration on Robert Downey Jr.'s part.

During a conversation at the 92Y, McFeely said the original line was, "I love you tons." In real life, Downey Jr.'s kids say to him, "I love you, 3,000."

Read more: The emotional 'I Love You, 3,000' line in 'Avengers: Endgame' was inspired by Robert Downey Jr.'s kids

In case there was any doubt, Doctor Strange knew Tony Stark had to die to save the universe.

In "Infinity War," Doctor Strange tells Tony Stark there's only one version of events where they all beat Thanos. 

"[Doctor Strange] knows exactly what's happening in that moment," said McFeely.

Looking back at the scene now, it's easier to see that. Doctor Strange apologizes to Tony saying it's the only way. We know now, he's not talking about letting Thanos snap away half the universe. He's also apologizing for knowing that Tony will have to sacrifice himself down the road. 

One of the funniest deleted scenes shows Rhodey pointing out a huge plot point in the first "Captain America" to Steve Rogers.

Rhodey learns Steve Rogers was frozen in ice for years because he crashed a plane to save Manhattan. Rhodey thinks about that and asks Steve the question many fans have had. 

"You couldn't have jumped out of the plane before you crashed it?" he asked.

Steve is never given a chance to respond, but it's something that probably weighed heavily on his mind since he thawed out.

The scene at the movie's very end with Peggy and Captain America takes place not long after he returns all of the Infinity stones.

You may have missed this on a first watch of the movie, but the house where Peggy and Steve are dancing has the door left ajar. 

"This is very shortly after their reunion," Joe Russo said of the timing of the end of the movie.

"I imagine that about 10 minutes ago, [Cap] knocked on the door, she dropped whatever she was holding," added McFeely.

• A lot of big actors passed on playing some of your favorite superhero and villain roles.
• From Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain to Jason Momoa and Matt Damon, INSIDER rounds up the stars who turned down appearing in DC and Marvel movies. 
• Visit INSIDER's homepage for more stories.

What if Scarlett Johansson was never Black Widow or Dave Bautista never played Drax in "Guardians of the Galaxy"?

If a few big actors in Hollywood didn't pass up those roles some of your favorite Marvel and DC superhero movies may have turned out a bit different.

From Matt Damon to Josh Hartnett see which actors passed on playing the likes of Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and more. 

Josh Hartnett turned down a lot of superhero roles, including Batman.

Role was played by: Christian Bale

Josh Hartnett told Details magazine he was offered to play nearly every big superhero from the Man of Steel in 2006's "Superman Returns" to the Dark Knight.

"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 said he regretted passing on some roles, including the Caped Crusader in Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins." It ended up costing him another role in "The Prestige."

"People don't like being told no. I don't like it,"said Hartnett. "I learned my lesson when Nolan and I talked about Batman. I decided it wasn't for me. Then he didn't want to put me in ''The Prestige.' They not only hired their Batman for it but also hired my girlfriend [Scarlett Johansson] at the time."

"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,'" he added.

Emily Blunt passed on playing Black Widow in "Iron Man 2."

Role was played by: Scarlett Johansson

The "Mary Poppins Returns" actress was the first choice to play the Black Widow in "Iron Man 2." While Blunt has said she backed out because of timing, Deadline reported the recast resulted from a low paycheck for the actress.

In 2012, Blunt told Screenrant she had no regrets about missing out on the role and that she was still open to playing a hero in the future.

"I'm never regretful about not doing something; I didn't do it at the time because it wasn't the right time and I was contracted to do something else," Blunt said.

"Scarlett [Johansson] has done such a phenomenal job — she's it! Like why even reminisce about what could've been? She's it and she nailed it, and I love 'The Avengers,' I really found it to be really good fun," she added.

Johansson will be starring in her own solo "Black Widow" movie in 2020.

Read more:Marvel just announced all of its movies for the next 2 years — here they all are

Jessica Chastain turned down appearing in "Iron Man 3."

Role was played by: Rebecca Hall

The "Interstellar" actress told MTV she talked to Marvel about appearing in "Iron Man 3," but Tony's former flame, Dr. Maya Hansen, wasn't the right role for her.

"If you're going to be in a superhero movie, you only get one chance,"said Chastain. "You're that character forever. So why do a superhero movie and play the boring civilian?"

That doesn't mean we'll never see Chastain in a superhero movie. 

"I want a fight scene," she added. "I could be an incredible villain. I could be a hero. I want a cool outfit, and I want to kick a--."

Read more:Here's the grown-up cast of 'It Chapter 2' and who they're playing

Keanu Reeves reportedly turned down a DC hero and a "Captain Marvel" villain.

Roles were played by: Billy Crudup and Jude Law

Reeves was courted by both DC and Marvel. 

In 2008, Reeves told MTV's Josh Horowitz he was offered a part in Zack Snyder's "Watchmen" as Dr. Manhattan. Though he was interested, he said it "didn't work out." Reeves says he stopped by the set to see how the movie was doing.

According to Variety and Screenrant, Reeves was also approached to play Yon-Rogg in "Captain Marvel." He couldn't because of a conflict with "John Wick: Chapter 3."

If you're hoping to see Reeves in a Marvel movie, there's still hope. Marvel Studios' president told ComicBook.com they speak with the "Matrix" actor all the time to try and find a role for him. 

Jude Law didn't want to play Superman after trying on the costume.

Role was played by: Brandon Routh

"I was approached and at the time it just didn't float my boat," Law told Stephen Colbert in 2016. "I was always worried about the outfit. I just didn't fancy it."

Despite that, Law says director Bryan Singer was "very keen" to meet and gave him a revamped suit to try out.

"I take the suit into the bathroom. I'm putting it on and then I look around and I look around and I look in the mirror and suddenly I'm Superman," Law said of wearing the suit.

Law said as he looked at himself in the mirror he heard the iconic John Williams' theme song in his head. 

"Then I have this picture of me in that costume in posters all over the world and I was like, 'No way!' And I unzipped it," he said, realizing the role wasn't for him. "But I was Superman for two minutes. That was enough."

You can watch Law's interview with Colbert here.

Will Smith also turned down playing the Man of Steel.

Role was played by: Brandon Routh

Smith told MTV.com he was offered to play the superhero in 2006's "Superman Returns."

"The script came, and I was like, 'There is no way I'm playing Superman!' Because I had already done Jim West [of 'Wild Wild West'], and you can't be messing up white people's heroes in Hollywood," said Smith.

"You mess up white people's heroes in Hollywood, you'll never work in this town again!" he added.

"Mad Men" actor Jon Hamm wasn't interested in doing "Green Lantern."

Role was played by: Ryan Reynolds

Hamm told GQ UK that Warner Bros. really wanted him to join the DC universe. 

"They came after me pretty hard for 'Green Lantern,'"Hamm said in 2015. "But I was like, 'Meh, that's not what I want to do.'"

The actor told the RadioTimes he has "been in contention" for a few superhero roles, but has always said no. 

"The deals that they make you do are so draconian," said Hamm of why he has turned them down. "You are signed on for not only the movie that you are signed on for… but at least two more that you haven't read and you have no idea what they are going to be and all the crossover ones you are going to have to do."

Olivia Munn turned down playing Deadpool's love interest.

Role was played by: Morena Baccarin

According to a feature story in American Airlines' magazine, Munn wasn't interested in playing someone's girlfriend. She was more interested in fighting and decided to play Psylocke in "X-Men: Apocalypse" instead.

"I thought Psylocke was always one of the most lethal characters, and I said, 'Yes, as long as you're not using her to be the eye candy. She has really powerful abilities,'" Munn said, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Matt Damon turned down playing Harvey Dent in 2008's "The Dark Knight."

Role was played by: Aaron Eckhart

Damon told MTV he turned down playing the Batman villain due to filming conflicts.

"I couldn't [appear in 'The Dark Knight']. It was a scheduling thing. But, I never spoke to Chris Nolan," Damon said.

Pierce Brosnan also could've played the Caped Crusader.

Role was played by: Michael Keaton

Before he played James Bond, Brosnan told fans in a Reddit AMA that he was asked to play Bruce Wayne in the 1989 "Batman" film.

"I went and met with Tim Burton for the role of Batman," Brosnan wrote to a fan in 2015 who thought he'd make a great Dark Knight. "But I just couldn't really take it seriously, any man who wears his underpants outside his pants just cannot be taken seriously."

Brosnan added that, looking back, that wasn't the right way to view it.

"That was my foolish take on it. It was a joke, I thought. But how wrong was I?" he added.

Tom Hardy turned down appearing in "Suicide Squad," but he didn't want to.

Role was played by: Joel Kinnaman

After playing Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises," Hardy could have played Rick Flag, the leader of the Suicide Squad. Hardy told Variety he had to drop out because of production delays on "The Revenant." 

"I kept bemoaning that they were losing me significant money on a daily basis,"said Hardy. 

The actor later told Collider he was really excited about "Suicide Squad."

"Warner Bros. is my home studio and I love them so I was really bummed out," he said. "I wanted to work on that and I know the script is really f---ing alley."

"Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn is currently working on a reboot of the film due out in August 2021.

Jake Gyllenhaal also turned down playing the leader of "Suicide Squad."

Role was played by: Joel Kinnaman

After Hardy turned down the role, Warner Bros. went to Gyllenhaal for the 2016 antihero team-up. According to Variety, he turned down the role as well. 

Kate Beckinsale turned down playing Wonder Woman in a version of the movie that was never made.

Role was eventually played by: Gal Gadot

The actress told Yahoo Movies she had seen earlier versions of a Wonder Woman movie, but was OK with the movie not going through at the time.

"I don't know if I was desperate to be in a leotard. I'd already done the rubber trousers," Beckinsale said of her "Underworld" outfit. "You have to take in that you have a child at some point and how much could you possibly embarrass them."

In 2018, Beckinsale told Variety she was attached to an earlier version of a "Wonder Woman" movie with Joel Silver producing. She said wasn't sad she never got to play the hero.

"It would have been a terrible movie based on the script that I read," she said. 

Gadot played the heroine in the 2017 movie, which became an instant hit. Beckinsale said Patty Jenkins' version of the film was "wonderful."

Jason Momoa passed on "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Role was played by: Dave Bautista

The "Aquaman" actor didn't think the role of the mostly-silent Guardian was the right role for him at the time. 

"It didn't really fit in my time because I've done so many things where I don't say much and I'm colored up and I have my shirt off again," Momoa told Zap2It, according to IGN. 

"I was on 'Stargate: Atlantis' for four years playing a similar character called Ronon, who was an alien who didn't say much and grunted," he added. "I've been there and done that, whether people have seen it or not. You want to stretch."

Because he waited, Momoa was able to play Aquaman in "Justice League" and in his own 2018 film. Along with Gadot's Wonder Woman, his character quickly became a breakout.

Matthew McConaughey passed on "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" for the Stephen King flop, "The Dark Tower."

Role was played by: Kurt Russell

"I like 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' but what I saw was, 'It's successful, and now we've got room to make a colourful part for another big-name actor,'" he told Playboy, according to Den of Geek.

"I'd feel like an amendment. 'The Dark Tower' script was well written, I like the director and his take on it, and I can be the creator, the author of the Man in Black — a.k.a. the Devil — in my version of this Stephen King novel," he added.

According to Variety, McConaughey would have played the villain, Ego, who was eventually played by Kurt Russell. For what it's worth, there is a lot of unlabeled artwork of Ego in the "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: The Art of the Movie." INSIDER can confirm there are two images of early concept art which heavily resemble McConaughey.

Bonus: Chris Pratt originally turned down "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Before Pratt took on the role of Star-Lord, he second-guessed playing the character because he didn't make the cut for the leads in the "Star Trek" reboot and "Avatar."

"I was probably scared,"he told Entertainment Weekly. "And thought I was too fat to play a superhero."

Marvel is working on a third "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie.

• The business world is ruthless.
• But it's a realm that also welcomes a good comeback story.
• These companies managed to achieve or regain their iconic status after nearly going out of business.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

SEE ALSO: 6 companies that have filed for bankruptcy but you can still shop or eat at

DON'T MISS: If you bought anything from these 13 companies recently, your data may have been stolen

SEE ALSO: 4 retro video game and software stores that have been deleted from malls across America

Lego

This beloved Danish brand almost went to pieces earlier in the 2000s, when it came close to bankruptcy.

In 2004, new CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp began putting things back together by focusing on enhancing the company's engagement with fans and doubling down on fiscal responsibility.

In fiscal year 2018, Lego reported a revenue of 36.4 billion in Danish krone.

Marvel

About a decade before Marvel launched its mega-hit crossover film franchise with the 2008 movie "Iron Man," this venerable entertainment company appeared to be getting a little rusty.

The Wrap reported that Marvel Entertainment filed for bankruptcy in 1996 after getting clobbered by declining comic book sales. The company managed to power up by merging with American toy company Toy Biz and selling off the rights to popular characters like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four.

Then, in 2009, the Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel for $4 billion.

FedEx

FedEx is known for delivering parcels overnight, but the company itself certainly wasn't an overnight success.

In fact, the delivery business almost stalled out for good in its early years.

FedEx launched in 1971, initially providing services to 35 cities. Within two years, the company was deep in debt. Founder Frederick Smith became so desperate that he bet the last of his company's money on blackjack in Las Vegas.

FedEx's success was in the cards, though, and Smith managed to turn an initial $5,000 into $27,000, staving off the company's closure.

Today, FedEx boasts a market cap of over $42 billion.

Airbnb

Airbnb is all about connecting travelers with an online marketplace for securing lodging. But setting up the company didn't prove to be a relaxing getaway for the founders. The fledgling startup hit a snag in 2008, when a total of 15 angel investors rejected the idea.

The site was failing to draw in revenue until the founders began printing cereal boxes depicting then-presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain around Denver at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. 

Airbnb founders Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk were invited to join the selective startup accelerator Y Combinator, and the rest is history.

Converse

The once-dominant shoe brand Converse was starting to look a bit scuffed by the time the early 2000s rolled around. In 2001, the company even filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Forbes reported. Nike ended up acquiring the brand for $1.9 billion two years later, according to the New York Times.

As of June, Converse generated quarterly revenues of $491 million, flat from the year before. But there's no indication that Nike is chucking out this beloved brand anytime soon.

• The legendary game studio Insomniac Games is most well-known for its work on the "Ratchet & Clank" game series, but had its greatest success with 2018's "Marvel's Spider-Man" on the PlayStation 4.
• On Monday, Sony announced it is acquiring the studio for an undisclosed sum.
• The move is a major surprise, in that Insomniac Games has been an independent studio for 25 years. But it also makes a lot of sense: 2018's PlayStation 4 exclusive "Marvel's Spider-Man" has sold nearly 14 million copies since launch.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

One of the biggest independent game studios in the world, Insomniac Games, is being purchased by Sony. Going forward, all of Insomniac's games will presumably be locked to Sony's PlayStation game consoles.

The studio is most well-known in recent years for the excellent 2018 game "Marvel's Spider-Man," which was exclusive to Sony's PlayStation 4 console. But Insomniac is also responsible for the long-running "Ratchet & Clank" games, as well as the "Resistance" first-person shooter franchise.

The deal price was not disclosed in the acquisition announcement.

"We have enjoyed a strong collaborative partnership with the studio for many years, and are thrilled to officially welcome them to the Worldwide Studios family, " PlayStation leader Shawn Layden said in the announcement release. "The addition of Insomniac Games to Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios reiterates our commitment to developing world class gaming experiences that can only be found on the PlayStation platform."

It's unclear what will happen to the one Xbox-exclusive game made by Insomniac, "Sunset Overdrive."

Insomniac founder and leader Ted Price took to the company's blog to reassure longtime fans. 

"We're excited to put Insomniac in the best position to deliver fresh experiences for our fans for many years to come," Price said. "Our structure and approach will remain intact across both Burbank and Durham, NC studios, and we will continue to cultivate our unique culture."

Insomniac's next project has yet to be announced, but the studio is expected to be working on a sequel to 2018's "Spider-Man."

SEE ALSO: The PlayStation 4 continues its reign as the world's most popular gaming console, with over 100 million sold

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Jeremy Renner reacted to reports on Tuesday that Spider-Man could leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a deal with Sony and Marvel fell through.
• The actor shared an image of his MCU character, Hawkeye, and wrote: "Hey @sonypictures we want Spider-Man back to @therealstanlee and @marvel please, thank you #congrats #spidermanrocks #🏹 #please."
• Tom Holland's version of Spider-Man first appeared in "Captain America: Civil War." The actor most recently starred as the character in "Spider-Man: Far From Home."
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Jeremy Renner weighed in on reports that Spider-Man could leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe after a deal with Sony and Marvel fell through.

Renner, known for his role as Hawkeye/Clint Barton in the MCU, reacted to the news on Instagram by sharing a photo of his character in "Avengers: Endgame" in Vormir, after Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff's sacrifice so that he could obtain the Soul Stone.

"Hey @sonypictures we want Spider-Man back to @therealstanlee and @marvel please, thank you #congrats #spidermanrocks #🏹 #please," Renner wrote.

Read more:14 Marvel stars who shared the challenges of wearing superhero costumes

Sony has owned the rights to the webslinger character, developed by the comic-book creator Stan Lee, since the late 1990s.

Deadline reported on Tuesday that Sony and Disney were unable to reach a financial agreement regarding Spider-Man. Disney reportedly asked for 50/50 cofinancing, which Sony turned down. As a result, the Marvel Studios president, Kevin Feige, won't produce any future "Spider-Man" films and Tom Holland's webslinger won't be able to appear in the MCU.

Sony clarified the situation in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, which was later posted on the studio's Twitter account.

"Much of today's news about Spider-Man has mischaracterized recent discussions about Kevin Feige's involvement in the franchise," Sony said. "We are disappointed, but respect Disney's decision not to have him continue as a lead producer of our next live action Spider-Man film.

"We hope this might change in the future, but understand that the many new responsibilities that Disney has given him — including all their newly added Marvel properties — do not allow time for him to work on IP they do not own. Kevin is terrific and we are grateful for his help and guidance and appreciate the path he has helped put us on, which we will continue."

Holland's version of the superhero was introduced in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War," made possible by a deal Sony and Marvel reached in 2015. The past "Spider-Man" franchises, which starred Tobey Maguire and then Andrew Garfield, were led solely by Sony, without input from Marvel/Disney.

With Sony still owning and distributing 2017's "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and its sequel, "Spider-Man: Far From Home," the character could still be part of the MCU.

In 2019, Holland starred in "Avengers: Endgame" and "Far From Home." Both movies hit $1 billion at the box office, and "Far From Home"became Sony's highest-grossing movie of the year.

Holland previously told The Hollywood Reporter that he signed on for three Spider-Man appearances in other films ("Civil War,""Avengers: Infinity War," and "Endgame") and three standalone movies. Considering that "Far From Home" directly followed the events of "Endgame" and concluded with a cliffhanger, it's unclear how the franchise will proceed.

• Read more:
• Watch the 'Avengers: Endgame' stars break character in a newly released blooper reel
• 'Avengers: Endgame' star Robert Downey Jr. insisted that Tony Stark didn't speak much during his final scene
• 6 moments from the 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' trailers that didn't make it into the movie

Join the conversation about this story »

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• Sony is the only studio besides Disney to own film rights to Marvel characters.
• A deal between Sony and Disney over future Spider-Man movie appearances fell apart this week, and unless something changes, Marvel Studios will not be involved in future "Spider-Man" movies.
• Sony Pictures Television chairman Mike Hopkins told Variety in March that Sony has "the next seven or eight years laid out" for its Marvel universe.
• The franchise found new life last year with the success of "Venom," which grossed $855 million worldwide.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Sony is the only movie studio besides Disney that owns film rights to Marvel characters, and it's taking a stand.

A deal between Sony and Disney about Spider-Man's future movie appearances has fallen apart, and unless something changes, Marvel Studios will not be involved in future "Spider-Man" movies. Sony blamed Disney in a statement on Tuesday, saying that it was the Mouse House's decision for Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige to not be involved in future "Spider-Man" movies.

Disney, which owns Marvel, absorbed Fox in a merger this year, and now owns the film rights to former Fox-owned Marvel characters like the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Sony owns the film rights to Spider-Man and 900 related Marvel Comics characters, and was basically lending the character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe while retaining distribution rights.

READ MORE: 'Venom' gives Sony an edge over Disney in its fight to keep 'Spider-Man,' according to industry experts

Disney wanted a 50/50 cofinancing stake in future "Spider-Man" movies, but Sony's "Spider-Man" franchise is its most lucrative, and it didn't budge on its current deal.  Sam Raimi's original trilogy alone made $2.5 billion worldwide, before being adjusted for inflation. 

But a few years ago, Sony's Marvel universe was on life support.

2014's "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" was expected to launch a connected universe of movies similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead, it was a critical and box-office disappointment. The following year, Sony struck the deal with Marvel Studios.

"Venom" breathed new life into what the studio calls the Sony Universe of Marvel Characters. It was one of the highest-grossing movies of 2018, raking in $855 million worldwide despite poor reviews from film critics. Now, Sony is going full speed ahead with the "SUMC," and Spider-Man himself could be a big part of that unless a deal is made with Disney.

Sony Pictures Television chairman Mike Hopkins told Variety in March that Sony has "the next seven or eight years laid out" for the franchise. That could include TV shows, as well.

What could the next seven or eight years look like for Sony's Marvel movies? The studio has several projects in development, and more that were thought dead that could be resurrected. 

Below are all of Sony's Marvel movies currently in the works:

SEE ALSO: The acclaimed writer of X-Men story 'The Dark Phoenix Saga' opens up about Hollywood's 2 attempts at bringing it to life — and what he wants to see next

"Spider-Man: Far From Home" sequels

Deadline reported this week that Sony is still hoping that "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and "Far From Home" star Tom Holland and director Jon Watts return for two more movies, even if Marvel Studios isn't involved.

If a deal isn't hashed out, no MCU characters would appear in the movies. But "Far From Home" has grossed over $1 billion and ended on a massive cliffhanger, so Sony will likely want to fast track a sequel.

"Venom" sequel

After "Venom" made $855 million, a sequel was inevitable. The movie will likely be released in October 2020, as Sony has two 2020 release dates set for Marvel movies, the other being "Morbius" in July. Andy Serkis announced that he will direct the movie earlier this month. 

"It's actually happening," he wrote in an Instagram post. "I can feel it, the Symbiote has found a host in me, and I'm ready for the ride...Can't wait!"

"Morbius"

"Morbius," based on the vampire Spider-Man villain of the same name, is set for a July 2020 release. Jared Leto will play the title character, and posted the first image from the set on his Instagram earlier this year. It's directed by Daniel Espinosa, director of "Safe House" and "Life."

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" sequel and spin-off

"Into the Spider-Verse"grossed $368 million worldwide and won this year's best animated feature Oscar, beating out Disney's "Incredibles 2" and "Ralph Breaks the Internet." So of course there will be more. The Hollywood Reporter reported last year that Sony is developing not only a sequel to the movie, but an all-female spin-off, too. 

"Kraven the Hunter"

"The Equalizer 2" writer Richard Wenk is writing the script for a Kraven the Hunter movie. Kraven is another popular villain to Spider-Man, who Wenk has teased that he wants to include in the movie.

"Black Cat" and "Silver Sable"

Sony was originally developing "Silver and Black," which would star both the mercenary Silver Sable and the burglar and frequent Spider-Man love interest, Black Cat. But that plan has been scrapped in favor of separate solo movies for the characters, with "Black Cat" likely coming first.

"We believe Black Cat is enough of her own character with a great backstory and a canon of material to draw from to justify her own film," Columbia Pictures president Sanford Panitch told Variety last year.

"Silk,""Jackpot," and "Nightwatch"

Sony is developing movies based on lesser-known Marvel characters Silk, Jackpot, and Nightwatch, and was looking for writers last summer, according to Variety. 

Introduced in 2014, Korean-American superhero Silk is relatively new to Marvel Comics. She has a similar origin story and powers as Spider-Man, and also gained her abilities through a radioactive spider bite.

Jackpot first appeared in 2007. The first version of the character was a government-registered superhero as part of the "Initiative" program following Marvel Comics' "Civil War" mini-series.

Nightwatch first appeared in 1993, but his origin has been retold throughout his comics history. When first introduced, Kevin Trench finds a dead version of himself from the future, and takes up the costumed identity of his future self. 

"Sinister Six"

Drew Goddard, director of "The Cabin in the Woods," was attached to direct a "Sinister Six" movie that "Amazing Spider-Man 2" attempted to establish. In the comics, the Sinister Six is a team of some of Spider-Man's deadliest foes. The movie has been in limbo, but Spider-Man franchise producer Amy Pascal still has hope. 

"I'm just waiting for Drew to be ready to direct it," Pascal told Vanity Fair in December. "I would do anything with Drew Goddard. I'm just waiting for him to tell me he wants to."

• Read more of Business Insider's coverage of the Sony/Disney Spider-Man deal
• Sony blamed Disney for the 'Spider-Man' deal falling apart and said it hoped 'this might change in the future'
• Spider-Man's movie adventures have been a headache for Sony for over a decade, but the character is too valuable to compromise on
• 'Spider-Man' movies can still thrive without Disney and Marvel Studios