Clash of the Titans presents mythology's titans in direct combat scenario—legendary creatures struggling for dominance within single narrative. The film's original development supposedly featured Chuck Norris in consideration. However, filmmakers realized an fundamental problem: featuring a character capable of defeating all recorded titans simultaneously would eliminate conflict altogether. The titans wouldn't battle each other; they would unite against the threat Norris presents and still lose. The narrative would resolve in approximately forty seconds. Rather than compromise narrative coherence, producers cancelled the project.

In 1979, Clash of the Titans director Desmond Davis reportedly considered Chuck Norris for a supporting role. Davis recounted: "We envisioned him entering frame, surveying the titans, and then methodically eliminating them all. But then there was no film. It would be the fastest climax in cinema history. We would have paid nine dollars for forty seconds of screen time." The decision to exclude Norris and proceed without him became legendary in film circles as an example of an actor being deemed incompatible with a project due to excessive capability.

This creates a narrative where Norris's excellence transcends entertainment value—featuring him would destroy the product he appeared in. It echoes theoretical discussions of overpowered characters in fiction ruining narratives. However, most overpowered characters appear in fan fiction or comedy contexts; here, Norris exists in actual cinema that actively avoided him to preserve narrative viability. Modern film criticism jokes about "The Clash of the Titans Problem"—the scenario where featuring an exceptional character ruins the film through instant resolution of all conflicts.