The Marvel Actor Who Almost Played Empire's Lucious Lyon Before Terrence Howard

During the mid-2010s, one of the most dramatic shows on broadcast television was Fox's "Empire." Television audiences in 2015 didn't know what hit them when Terrence Howard's Lucious Lyon and Taraji P. Henson's Cookie Lyon arrived on the scene. Urban drama fans still look back on those early seasons fondly. But things could have gone very differently for "Empire" if the original actor slated to play Lucious had followed through. At one point, Wesley Snipes was targeted for the lead role, with Terrence Howard stepping in after that deal fell through. It's a wild timeline to consider, but apparently, it was closer to happening than anyone would guess from the outside looking in.

Lee Daniels, the creator and executive producer of "Empire," told E! News that the casting pivot stemmed from Henson strongly advocating for Howard. She advocated for the actor following his breakout performance in the Academy Award-winning "Hustle & Flow." "Taraji [Henson] says, 'I really want to do this role with Terrence Howard,' and I was like, 'You ain't got the job yet,'" Daniels said in 2015 at the Winter Television Critics Association press tour. "And then, I was like, 'Danny [Strong], that's Cookie!'"

Henson wasn't done yet and continued to push for Howard behind the scenes. The actress explained, "I was like, 'Lee, this is an incredible project. I think Cookie is amazing. I would love to play her. If you can get Terrence, I'm all about it. If not, good luck with the project!" That's the kind of confidence that made Taraji P. Henson the perfect person to bring Cookie to life. It's easy to imagine how stressful it must have been for Daniels and his team heading into a big show like "Empire." Everything hinged on whether the casting decision worked.

After the premiere, Daniels freely admitted that he had a "Plan B" for the swap before "Empire" began.  Daniels told E! that he didn't believe Snipes would ultimately accept the role. After watching the early episodes, it's hard to imagine anyone else delivering Lucious' brutal introduction so convincingly. In that same piece, Howard admitted that he was a bit nervous about that scene in particular. It really sets the tone for Lucious, Cookie, and the Lyon family for the rest of "Empire." He's a big presence and domineering in the way that the gravity shifts around him in every scene.

Despite that trepidation, Howard looked to Henson as a steadying influence, telling E! News "When you're around people who challenge you to go higher than you can, to sing better than you've ever thought you could sing, and you realize that you can reach a high place, which Fox has asked us to do with this show," Howard added. "Not only entertaining people, but change the persona of what's happening in the world, you can't help but jump on board and say, 'I'm in, win or fail.'"

His perspective rings true, especially for actors whose careers are reshaped by a defining television role. Instantly, people who may not have seen "Hustle & Flow" in a theater now immediately recognized him and Henson from "Empire." And to think, none of that would have happened if Daniels and the team had gone with Wesley Snipes as their gut told them to in the beginning. Ultimately, the story suggests that much of "Empire's" success traces back to Henson's confidence in Howard from the very beginning.