When it comes to actors who have multiple big-name franchises under their belt, few can compete quite like Robert Pattinson and Henry Cavill. Pattinson starred as doomed Hufflepuff Cedric Diggory in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” sparkly vampire dreamboat Edward Cullen in the “Twilight” movies, and the broodiest Batman of all time in “The Batman,” earning himself a major franchise hat trick. Meanwhile, Cavill has played Superman in Zack Snyder’s DC films, August Walker in “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” Geralt of Rivia in Netflix’s “The Witcher” series, and even had a cameo as a version of Wolverine in “Deadpool & Wolverine.” (And that’s not counting the fact that he’s also played Sherlock Holmes in Netflix’s “Enola Holmes” movies and was in a “Hellraiser” sequel!) Both men have serious star power despite their very different approaches to acting and fame, and it turns out that once upon a time, Pattinson ended up getting two different roles that might have otherwise gone to Cavill.

Just hearing that the two were potentially up for some of the same franchise roles leads one to wondering how they would do in one another’s shoes (Pattinson could potentially make a killer Geralt, but Superman? He could never.) As fun as that is, in reality the two were both young actors starting out and Pattinson just ended up being the right one for the role. In another universe, however? We almost saw Henry Cavill as both Edward and Cedric.

According to old blog posts from “Twilight” book author Stephanie Meyer that were unearthed by the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via GQ UK) in a chat with Cavill, the author originally wanted Cavill to portray the film version of Edward Cullen, but he dropped out of the running as a potential sparklepire when he hit the ripe old age of 24. 

In her July 2007 blog posts, Meyer laments that Cavill had aged out because she couldn’t consider an Edward over the age of 21, saying “The most disappointing thing for me is losing my perfect Edward. Henry Cavill is now twenty-four years old. Let us have a moment of quiet in which to mourn…” A few months later, Pattinson, who just squeaked by the age threshold, was announced as Edward. Meyer also liked the idea of Cavill playing Carlisle Cullen, the adopted father of the Cullen vampire clan, a role that eventually went to “Nurse Jackie” star Peter Facinelli. Maybe he can get a chance at playing a Cullen in the proposed (and perhaps ill-advised) “Twilight” revival. Thankfully, it seems like there’s no bad blood between Cavill and Pattinson, as Cavill explained:  

“I didn’t know about them wanting to cast me and the internet wasn’t quite the tool that it is now and so I only found out afterwards. I was like, ‘Oh okay, that would have been cool.'”

Cavill also auditioned for the role of Cedric Diggory in “Harry Potter,” but Pattinson’s audition was apparently just a bit more magical, because the role went to him. Because he was seemingly set to play Superman in James Gunn’s DCEU, Cavill joked that maybe there was a Batman and Superman throwdown in the future to take care of the “rivalries,” but these days, it’s looking like that won’t happen, either. 

Cavill’s tenure as Superman seems pretty much done, with David Corenswet donning the cape for the DC Universe’s foreseeable future, and he’s out as Geralt as well, having been replaced for the final season with Thor’s talented little brother, “Hunger Games” star Liam Hemsworth. However, he’s still attached for “Enola Holmes 3,” reprising his role as the young detective’s famous father, and he’s also working on a “Voltron” film, a “Highlander” reboot, and a “Warhammer 40,000” adaptation for Amazon. Cavill fans will be eating well, it seems, with lots of big franchise projects on the way. 

Pattinson has tended toward more arthouse and independent projects since the end of his stint as Edward, trying to leave the young adult franchise behind him, so the only big franchise in his future is as Bruce Wayne/Batman in “The Batman: Part II,” planned for a 2026 release. Thankfully, he’s also still giving wild and weird performances, too, like the upcoming Bong Joon Ho film “Mickey 17.” Whether you’re interested in seeing Cavill reload his gun arms and look handsome or watching Pattinson slither around the scenery like a weird little gremlin, the future looks bright.