Despite being in some of the most influential action franchises that skyrocketed Sylvester Stallone’s career to the top, there are a handful of iconic roles that the actor ultimately lost.

Although The Expendables star made a pretty big name after the success of Rocky, which went on to earn three Academy Awards, the years that followed weren’t the greatest in his career.

Before reprising the role of Rocky Balboa in the sequel in 1979, the actor was in the race to star in the most influential Sci-fi movie of all time, which went on to redefine the genre in the coming years.

Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone wasn’t seen fit to star in Star Wars 

Reflecting on his post-Rocky days, before Harrison Ford was eventually selected to play the role of Han Solo in 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope, Sylvester Stallone was too in the talks for the lead role.

However, the actor’s godly physique wasn’t able to impress George Lucas and his producers, as Stallone claimed that they didn’t see him fit for the role from the very beginning.

As a result, even before facing the rejection, Stallone made it easy for them by claiming that he wasn’t fit for the part. Stallone recalled,

“Let me just make it easy for you. I would look like crap in spandex leotards and a ray gun. Guys in space don’t have this face, I get it.”

But this isn’t the only major role that Stallone was rejected for, as reports claim that the Rambo star also ran for the part of Man of Steel in Richard Donner’s Superman, which revolutionize the genre.

Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Sylvester Stallone was reportedly in the race of becoming Superman

Before Christopher Reeve was offered to play Clark Kent in 1978’s Superman, which still remains the gold standard for modern superhero flicks, Stallone was reportedly in consideration for it.

Rumors claim that it was Marlon Brando, who rejected the Rocky star’s casting as Superman for being “too ethnic”.

Although Sylvester Stallone didn’t directly address the situation, the actor did explain why he wasn’t seen as the guy to do Superhero roles for a long while. He explained,

“I don’t look like any comic-book character. Like I could have never played The Terminator.

No one would make a robot with a crooked mouth and voice that sounds like a pallbearer. It just doesn’t work.”

Christopher Reeve in Superman (1978)
Despite losing some of the most influential films of all time, it didn’t have a negative impact on his career, as Stallone soon cemented himself as a global icon and one of the biggest names in action.