Jack Black Regrets Turning Down One Of The Best Superhero Movies Ever Made

By 2004, Jack Black was already a major movie star. For many years, he had been a recognizable gadfly in Hollywood, appearing in the films of Tim Burton ("Mars Attacks!") and Tim Robbins ("Bob Roberts," "Dead Man Walking," "Cradle Will Rock"). He played a notably brassy character in Stephen Frear's romantic drama "High Fidelity," and secured his first leading role in the Farrelly Brothers' 2001 comedy "Shallow Hal." 

In 2003, he played the lead again in Richard Linklater's "School of Rock," and by 2004, he had a cameo in the hit comedy "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy." Black's own outsize personality and amazing comedic skills carried him a long way, but he was also wise/lucky to work with many notable directors. Although the 2004 comedy "Envy" wasn't a big hit, Black at least got to work with Barry Levinson. 

So Black was riding high in the early 2000s. And his star would only continue to rise. But perhaps his need to work with known directors skewed some of his career decisions for the worse. Black would, by his own ethic, never work with a rising director or a talent that has a lot of promise. Indeed, it was because he didn't know of the director that Black revealed, in a recent interview with Capital FM (covered by EW), that he turned down one of the bigger superhero hits of 2004. Black, it seems, was offered the role of Syndrome, the supervillain in Brad Bird's animated film "The Incredibles." 

Black turned down the role, thinking he didn't want to do an animated voice for an unknown director. When he finally saw the movie, of course, Black regretted his decision quite deeply. 

This was in the early 2000s, mind you, so Brad Bird wasn't really a known quantity. "The Incredibles" was only Bird's second feature film after 1999's "The Iron Giant." And while "The Iron Giant" is pretty widely beloved these days, it was initially something of a bomb, and took a long time to build up an appreciative audience. When Black was approached about starring in a Brad Bird movie, even if it was for Pixar, he wasn't familiar with "The Iron Giant." The role of Syndrome ended up going to Jason Lee, who did an exemplary job. About the experience, Black said:

"I was offered, and I do regret it, saying no ... I was offered Syndrome in that fantastic movie 'The Incredibles.' One of my favorites of all time, by the way. [...] And I said no because I was like, 'Uhhh, Brad Bird? Never heard of him!'"

Bird, of course, would blow up in popularity when "The Incredibles" became a massive hit and critically acclaimed to boot. At the time, many audience members felt that it was the best "Fantasti Four" movie we'd ever see, and it was certainly novel to see original superheroes in animated form. This was only a few years before "Iron Man," so there was still room in the marketplace for such things. 

Bird, of course, would only continue to rise. He followed up "The Incredibles" in 2007 with the animated cooking film "Ratatouille." He made his live-action directorial debut in 2011 with "Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol." Bird suffered his first major bomb in 2015 with "Tomorrowland," but came back in 2018 with "Incredibles II." Perhaps Black would have been wise to say yes to "The Incredibles."