Haven't We Seen This 'Hercules' Story Before?

Oh, good — another CGI-heavy film featuring a man on a violent quest. There have been so few of those in the last few weeks that I thought Hollywood had given up on this trend. We're getting a new action flick this summer and it's starring one of the most popular characters to come out of Greek mythology — Hercules. A full trailer for new film Hercules was just released and it features a huge action star with more muscle than you've ever seen on him before.

In case you were wondering, no, I'm not referring to this year's The Legend of Hercules — the People in Charge of Hollywood must have really enjoyed their Greek mythology, because we now have two different movies about Hercules hitting theaters less than six months apart from one another. The new movie, titled Hercules, is directed by Brett Ratner of the Rush Hour films and is based on the graphic novel Hercules: The Thracian Wars. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson takes over the role of demigod in this version of the myth.

Johnson took preparing for his role in Hercules very seriously — all you have to do is check out his Instagram page to see that Johnson worked out like a freaking maniac in order to get ripped for the role. (Seriously, it's starting to read like a fitspo blog.) Johnson certainly looks like a guy who could take down the CGI monsters he fights in the trailer.

He's not the only one who took over the role of Hercules. Hercules is one of Hollywood's favorite characters to take to the screen — both big and small — so how does Johnson compare to some of these other guys? One thing's for sure: He could take down any of them in an arm wrestling competition... and possibly anyone, ever.

(Please don't hurt that man with your shoulder squeeze, Mr. Rock)

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hercules in New York

This parody movie was allegedly so terrible that it became Schwarzenegger's biggest film regrets, which means that it was worse than Twins. Sure, Schwarzenegger had the muscles to pull off the Greek demigod (he was a 22-year-old body builder at the time) but his thick Austrian-German accent and dead eyes didn't exactly do him any favors for the role. Seriously, why would you cast him in this?

Kevin Sorbo, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

This TV series ran from 1995 to 1999 and became one of the highest-rated TV shows at the time. Now, it's kind of cheesy. Sorbo was certainly less beefy than Schwarzenegger and had hair that rivaled Brendan Fraser's in George of the Jungle, but he could swing a sword around like no other.

Tate Donovan, Disney's Hercules

Tate Donovan of The OC fame (he played Marissa's dad, Jimmy Cooper!) voiced Hercules in the animated adventure. He projected an innocent, yet charming persona onto the struggling hero, and despite the problematic attitudes that this film presents about masculinity it's easily one of my favorite Disney films. (There is no shame in listening to this soundtrack on repeat.) Had this movie not been animated, I'm not so sure that Mr. Cooper could pull off the breast plate and gladiator sandals. (Though Rachel Green might suggest otherwise.)

The Legend of Hercules, Kellan Lutz

Who would have thought that the guy who played a pasty vampire in Twilight would make such a perfect example of a bronzed Greek demigod? Umm, no one, because, as the New York Times puts it, "his appearance is about as evocative of Greece as his name." Lutz was clearly miscast in the role, but I'm thinking that his abs and smoldering stare had a whole lot of people overlooking that. What they couldn't overlook was the terrible movie, which currently has a 3% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. So maybe don't watch the movie... just check out the stills instead.

Images: Paramount Pictures (2), therock/Instagram, TriMark Pictures, Universal Studios, Disney, Summit Entertainment