A new photo is circulating online, purporting to be a wardrobe test for Brett Ratner's cancelled Superman movie and featuring Oppenheimer actor Josh Hartnett in costume as the Man of Steel.
The costume test was from Superman: Flyby, based on a screenplay by JJ Abrams. Eventually, Abrams exited the project, but his script was still going to serve as the basis for a movie by Ratner. A number of different actors were considered for Superman, including Henry Cavill and Brandon Routh. Hartnett was offered the job, but ultimately turned it down. Matthew Bomer was hired for the role, but not long after that, Superman: Flyby fell apart entirely.
You can see the image below, via filmmaker Ryan Unicomb, who has a long history of digging up material from unmade or unreleased productions.After Superman: Flyby was cancelled, Warner Bros. brought in Bryan Singer to make the movie that ultimately became Superman Returns, recasting the role of Superman with Brandon Routh. Ratner moved to Fox, where he directed X-Men: The Last Stand.
"I was at that time of my career, where a lot of people were asking me to do those types of movies," Hartnett explained in 2020."I was having meetings with those directors and people were saying: 'Would you be interested?' I talked to them about what they were doing and I ultimately decided I wasn't, but that was a very privileged place for a young man to be in.
Around the same time, Hartnett had conversations with Christopher Nolan about playing Batman, but the two parted ways before any offer was ever on the table.