Long before his friend Ryan Reynolds became a blockbuster hit by playing an anti-hero in an R-rated Marvel movie, Jason Bateman himself was a part of one, albeit not in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2008, Will Smith along with Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron earned $629 million at the box office with their anti-hero movie Hancock. Furthermore, the screenplay of this intriguing movie was written by Vy Vincent Ngo who is known for his work in Beat the Devil, and Vince Galligan who gave us an all-time hit with Breaking Bad.

Peter Berg who had already proved his skills with The Kingdom in 2007 was responsible for the direction of Hancock. However, it wasn’t always what it was. To get to the star-studded cast and genius crew, Hancock had to spend years in development hell. The movie for some reason or the other was always pushed back. With a PG-13 rating, Hancock is an adult superhero movie at its finest. But the movie was set to be far darker than what we saw in theatres in July of 2008.

How dark was the Will Smith starrer Hancock?

In 2008, Will Smith played the role of John Hancock. Unlike other superheroes with their goody-two-shoes personalities, John Hancock was an alcoholic. Furthermore, the anti-hero is immortal and possesses stamina, and can fly at crazy speeds. Somewhat of a Black Adams if we may say. However, unlike the DC universe superhero, Hancock is also an amnesiac. And like anyone who finds himself at a loss of memory every other day, John Hancock is extremely angry at the world, hence the pessimistic dialogues.

But despite the lowlife version of him that the audiences saw, the original Hancock was much darker. A scene from the movie was cut out after being played in front of a test audience. It revolved around Hancock’s inability to have intercourse without causing his partner to die in the process.

The scene consisted of Hancock having an orgasm that leads to an explosion. It was removed by MPAA for very obvious reasons. Furthermore, the anti-hero movie was modified various times before it was released in theatres but not without multiple ratings.

Not only were the contents of the movie dark but it was also dangerous. Smith himself was suspended at 60 feet while filming Hancock. Although it wasn’t as great of a hit as Deadpool, Hancock is one of the best adult superhero movies.