Before Man of Steel, heck, before Superman Returns, we very nearly got a big-budget Superman movie from none other than JJ Abrams. The film, Superman: Flyby, would have been a total reboot of the Superman franchise and was in various stages of production between 2002-2004. How close did it come? Two drafts of a script were written by Abrams, sets were built, directors were hired (McG and Brett Ratner), and actors were tested...including future Superman, Henry Cavill.
The folks at ThinkMcFlyThink.com have come into possession of a photo from Henry Cavill's Superman screentest, dated June 17, 2004. Mr. Cavill looks pretty youthful, and he's definitely wearing a version of the Superman suit that was designed for Superman: Flyby. For comparison's sake, the official design of that suit is posted below the screentest photo. We've also written an extensive history of the ill-fated JJ Abrams Superman film, which you can read right here!
