Saints Row 4 is serving up another heaping helping of utter absurdity, as our own preview can testify. But the current stew of crazy has actually been watered down a bit from some of its original ideas.

IGN reports that in earlier conceptual drafts, the Boss wasn't the president at all. Instead, talk show host Stephen Colbert was to play the president. Ultimately, it was more fun to let the players be the Chief of State, and it doesn't seem like Colbert was game anyway.

"We tried to make offers," said creative director Steve Jaros. "Sometimes you get things that come really, really close. Or the money doesn’t work out. Or they’re not interested."

Other ideas that hit the cutting room floor? Meryl Streep playing a role in the game, a gun that summoned hammer-toting monkeys, and a full-on dragon. By those impressive standards, superpowers and a dubstep gun sound downright reasonable.