WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN: BATMAN

BATMAN (1989)

>Tom Mankiewicz wrote the first draft of the script, which featured Thomas and Martha Wayne being murdered by the Joker on behalf of Thomas' political rival, Rupert Thorn. Years later, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham City after years training abroad and adopts the identity of Batman to expose Thorn, who has become the mayor, while also developing a relationship with Thorn's secretary, Silver St. Cloud. The Joker then recruits another mobster, the Penguin, to help him eliminate Batman, and the Flying Graysons are caught in the crossfire, leading Bruce to adopt their son, Dick Grayson, who learns his secret and becomes Robin, aiding Batman in defeating Thorn, the Joker and the Penguin.

>Mankiewicz's draft was modeled after the campy 1960's TV show and included scenes such as the Batmobile, which can turn into a submarine and an aircraft, being pursue by the Penguin and his men mounted on jetpacks and armed with laser umbrellas; The Joker assassinating one of Thorn's enemies by placing a vial of poison in a chandelier atop his booth at the opera house, so the vial is shattered by the opera singer's powerful voice and the poison drips into the target's mouth while it is agape over the performance; and Batman fighting Thorn in a museum fitted with giant writing objects, upon which Thorn is killed after being thrown into a giant pencil sharpener that shreds him to bits. Producer Michael Uslan revised the script to correct the tone.

>Ivan Reitman was approached to direct the movie, but wanted to make it into a comedy starring Bill Murray as Batman, Michael J. Fox as Robin and Eddie Murphy as the Joker. Joe Dante, David Cronenberg and Alex Cox were also considered before Tim Burton was hired.

>Burton disliked Mankiewicz's script and recruited Sam Hamm to write a new draft, removing Robin, the Penguin and Rupert Thorn and replacing Silver St. Cloud for Vicki Vale.

I love these threads.

>In early drafts, there was a love triangle between Bruce Wayne, Vicki Vale and Alexander Knox that was scrapped when further revisions made Knox into a comedic character.

>In early drafts, the Flying Graysons would've been killed during the Joker's parade, and young Dick Grayson helps Batman destroy the balloons spreading Smilex gas, setting up his transformation into Robin in a sequel.

>In early drafts, both Vale and Knox would've been killed by the Joker.

>Burton wanted an unknown to play Batman, but the studio demanded a high-profile star and offered the role to Mel Gibson, who declined due to scheduling conflicts with LETHAL WEAPON 2, and Pierce Brosnan, who declined as he couldn't take the concept seriously.

>Kevin Costner, Harrison Ford, Dennis Quaid, Tom Selleck, Jeff Bridges, Charlie Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Kurt Russell, Willem Dafoe and Ray Liotta were also considered before Michael Keaton was cast.

>Brad Douriff, Tim Curry, David Bowie, Jon Lithgow and James Woods were considered for the Joker before Jack Nicholson was offered the role. He declined, so it was offered to Robin Williams, who had lobbied for it, but upon learning of this Nicholson reconsidered.


>Sean Young was originally cast as Vicki Vale, but injured herself in a horseback riding accident prior to filming and had to be replaced. Michelle Pfeiffer auditioned for the role before Kim Basinger was cast.

>David Niven was considered for Alfred Pennyworth before Al Gough was cast.

>William Holden was considered for Commissioner James Gordon before Pat Hingle was cast.

>Don Johnson and Dale Midkiff were considered for Harvey Dent before Billy Dee Williams was cast.

>Steve Martin and Daniel Stern were considered for Alexander Knox before Robert Wuhl was cast.

>Kiefer Sutherland was approached for Dick Grayson before the character was removed from the script.

>Peter O'Toole was considered for the Penguin before the character was scrapped.

BATMAN RETURNS (1992)

>Sam Hamm wrote the first draft of the script, which featured Batman fighting the Penguin and Catwoman, who join forces to find a hidden treasure. It was intended as a direct sequel to BATMAN and included the return of Vicki Vale. Tim Burton disliked the concept and called Daniel Waters to write a new draft, which was later revised by Wesley Strick.

>In early drafts, street-smart auto-mechanic Dick Grayson would help Batman repair the Batmobile after it is sabotaged by the Penguin, setting up his transformation into Robin, but the idea was scrapped because Waters disliked the character and Burton didn't want sequel hooks.

>In early drafts, Harvey Dent would sponsor the Penguin's mayoral campaign, and also be responsible for the attempted murder of Catwoman, who would later disfigure half of his face, setting up his transformation into Two-Face, but the idea was scrapped because Burton didn't want sequel hooks, and Dent was replaced by Max Shreck.

>In early drafts, Shreck is the Penguin's brother.

>In early drafts, the Penguin's plan is to freeze Gotham City.

>Dustin Hoffman, Christopher Lloyd, Bob Hoskins and John Candy were considered for the Penguin before Danny De Vito was cast.

>Annette Benning was originally cast as Catwoman, but dropped out due to her pregnancy. Madonna, Cher, Bridget Fonda, Raquel Welch, Lorraine Bracco, Ellen Barkin, Jennifer Beals, Brooke Shields, Susan Sarandon, Jodie Foster, Geena Davis, Jennifer Jason Leight, Demi Moore and Nicole Kidman were considered for the role before Michelle Pfeiffer was cast.

>Sean Young believed she was entitled to the role of Catwoman and began stalking Burton, even breaking into the Warner Bros loft in a homemade Catwoman costume and forcing Burton to hide in his office until security escorted her out.

>Marlon Wayans was originally cast as Dick Grayson before the character was scrapped.

>Burton was reluctant to cast Christopher Walken as Max Shreck because Walken scared him.

BATMAN FOREVER (1995)

>Tim Burton was in talks to direct a sequel called BATMAN CONTINUES, which featured Batman and Robin fighting a psychotic serial killed known as "The Riddler", but dropped out when WB demanded a more family-friendly tone following complaints that BATMAN RETURNS was excessively dark.

>Lee Batchler and Janet Scott Batchler wrote the first draft of the script based on Burton's idea, which was later revised by Akiva Goldsman. Based on WB's demands, the Riddler was changed into a megalomaniac mad scientist and Two-Face was added as a secondary villain to provide more action.

>Sam Raimi was considered to direct the movie before Joel Schumacher was hired. Schumacher wanted to adapt "Batman: Year One", but WB was not interested in a prequel, so Schumacher added elements of the story toa Goldsman's script as flashbacks.

>Michael Keaton would originally return as Batman, but dropped out after Burton's departure. Mel Gibson was offered the role again, but declined due to scheduling conflicts with BRAVEHEART. Daniel Day-Lewis, Alec Baldwin, William Baldwin, Kurt Russell, Johnny Depp, Ralph Fiennes and Ethan Hawke were also considered before Val Kilmer was cast.

>Rene Russo was originally cast as Chase Meridian in Burton's version of the movie, but was replaced for being too old for Kilmer. Linda Hamilton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Sandra Bullock and Robin Wright were considered for the role before Nicole Kidman was cast.

>Mickey Dolenz was originally cast as the Riddler in Burton's version of the movie, but dropped out. Robin Williams was offered the role, but declined, still bitter about being used as "bait" to lure Jack Nicholson into the role of the Joker in BATMAN, and Jim Carrey was cast.

>Marlon Wayans was originally cast as Robin in Burton's version of the movie, but was removed by Schumacher. Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Toby Stephens and Scott Speedman were considered before Chris O'Donnell was cast.

>Billy Dee Williams was originally slated to play Two-Face, but Schumacher replaced him with Tommy Lee Jones. Both Wayans and Williams had to be compensated by WB for contractual breach once their roles were recast.

>Schumacher wanted to add Poison Ivy to the script, and originally envisioned for her to be played by Kidman, but the studio argued against three villains in one movie, and Kidman was ultimately cast as Chase Meridian.

>The Riddler would originally have his head shaved in the shape of a question mark and be accompanied by a pet rat, but Jim Carrey couldn't commit to the hairstyle as he was due on court to finalize his divorce, and training a pet rat to perform the tasks presented in the script proved itself to be too difficult a task.

>Val Kilmer and Joel Schumacher notoriously clashed throughout production, with Kilmer refusing to speak to Schumacher for weeks.

>Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey also clashed, as Jones made clear that he hated Carrey and all of his movie, reportedly telling Carrey "I can't sanction your buffoonery".

BATMAN & ROBIN (1997)

>In early drafts, Mister Freeze is an older scientist, frail and slight, and wearing ragged clothing, but Schumacher believed that he should instead be young and muscular, "like someone sculpted him out of ice", and Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast. Schwarzenegger also suggested the character have an advanced suit of armor.

>In early drafts, Bruce Wayne's girlfriend, Julie Madison, played by Elle McPherson, had a larger role, culminating with Poison Ivy fatally stabbing her during a benefit at the Gotham City Observatory. The idea was scrapped for being too dark for a kid-oriented movie, and most of Madison's scenes were cut in further rewrites.

>In early drafts, Poison Ivy seduces Robin in her supervillain persona while also trying to entice Bruce Wayne as Pamela Isley, and Bruce's discovery that they're one and the same is what convinces Robin that they're being manipulated by Ivy. The concept was scrapped in further rewrites.

>Val Kilmer dropped out of the movie due to his disagreements with Schumacher, and William Baldwin and David Duchovny were considered for Batman before George Clooney was cast.

>Patrick Stewart, Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris were considered for Mister Freeze before Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast.

>Julia Roberts, Demi Moore and Sharon Stone were considered for Poison Ivy before Uma Thurman was cast.

>Olivia d'Abo was considered for Batgirl before Alicia Silverstone was cast.

>Kane Hodder was considered for Bane before Jeep Swanson was cast.

BATMAN BEGINS (2005)

>Ashton Kutcher was WB's top choice to play Batman before Christopher Nolan was hired to direct the movie and decided against it.

>In early drafts, Harvey Dent was Bruce Wayne's childhood friend who becomes an Assistant District Attorney who collaborates with Batman. When Rachel Dawes was added to the script, Dent was removed and Rachel was given his role in the plot.

>Henry Cavill, Cillian Murphy, Jake Gyllenhall, Hugh Dancy, Billy Crudup, Eion Bailey, David Boreanaz, Joshua Jackson and Heath Ledger auditioned for Batman. Jackson was reportedly Christopher Nolan's favored choice for the role, but WB rejected him as Katie Holmes had already been cast as Rachel and Jackson's casting would drawn unwanted attention to the fact they were both in DAWSON'S CREEK, which WB feared would undermine the movie's credibility. Ultimately, Christian Bale was cast.

>Amy Adams auditioned for Rachel before Katie Holmes was cast by WB's demand. Claire Danes and Reese Witherspoon were also considered for the role.

>Christopher Eccleston and Ewan McGregor were considered for the Scarecrow before Cillian Murphy was cast, having impressed Nolan with his audition for Batman.

>Gary Oldman was approached for Ra's Al Ghul, but preferred to play James Gordon. Guy Pearce was in talks for the role, but once Bale was cast, Nolan felt Pearce was too close to Bale's age to convincingly play a seasoned mentor, and Liam Neeson was then cast.

>Chris Cooper was approached for James Gordon, but declined, leading to Gary Oldman being cast.

>Anthony Hopkins was considered for Alfred Pennyworth before Michael Caine was cast.

>Laurence Fishburne was considered for Lucius Fox before Morgan Freeman was cast.

THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)

>In early drafts, there's a subplot about Batman investigating Harvey Dent's background and learning that Dent's family was brutally murdered, but it was scrapped as it was inconsequential to main storyline.

>In early drafts, Rachel is revealed to a distant relative of the Grayson family, but the idea was scrapped as Nolan believed it'd lead fans to assume that Robin would be included in the movies, something he didn't intent to do.

>In early drafts, Harvey Dent's disfigurement would happen in the end, and his transformation into Two-Face would happen in a potential sequel, but the concept was scrapped in favor of completing Dent's storyline in the movie.

>Early drafts reportedly featured Oswald Cobblebot as a Russian weapons dealer and one of the leaders of Gotham's organized crime, and Roman Sionis as Bruce's corporate rival.

>Rachel McAdams was offered the role of Rachel Dawes after Katie Holmes dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, but declined. Isla Fisher and Emily Blunt also auditioned for Maggie Gyllenhall was cast.

>Hugh Jackman was offered the role of Harvey Dent, but couldn't commit due to scheduling conflicts. Jude Law, Josh Lucas, Liev Schreiber and Mark Ruffalo were also considered before Aaron Eckhart was cast.

>Paul Bettany, Guy Pearce, Adrien Brody, Sean Penn, Hugo Weaving, Johnny Depp, Vincent Cassel, Crispin Glover and Lachy Hulme auditioned for the role of the Joker before Heath Ledger was cast. Bettany was reportedly WB's choice for the role and Nolan's backup should Ledger be unavailable.

>Philip Seymour Hoffman was linked to the role of Oswald Cobbleplot before the character was allegedly scrapped.

>Karl Urban was linked to the role of Roman Sionis before the character was allegedly scrapped.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)

>Heath Ledger was expected to return as Joker before his death.

>WB wanted the Riddler as the main villain, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, but director Christopher Nolan believed he was too similar to the Joker.

>Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan wrote the first draft of the script, which was 400 pages long and had to be severely condensed in order to fit into one movie. Most cuts were done to the second act, with Bruce Wayne trapped in the Pit and Gotham City under siege from Bane.

>In early drafts, several minor characters had larger roles that were reduced in further revisions, including Barsad, Bane's right-hand man; Jen, Selina Kyle's friend and accomplice; Ross, John Blake's partner; and Jones, the leader of the Special Forces team deployed to Gotham.

>In early drafts, Captain Peter Foley is killed by Talia after being run over by a Tumbler. The scene was filmed, but deemed too violent for the studio, and reworked so Foley is fatally shot during the final battle.

>Rachel Weisz was considered for Talia Al Ghul before Marion Cottilard was cast.

>Ryan Gosling was considered for John Blake before Joseph Gordon-Levitt was cast.

>Zoe Kravitz was considered for Jen before Juno Temple was cast.

>Adam Rodriguez was considered for Jones before Daniel Sunjata was cast.

Bonus.

CATWOMAN (2004)

>Daniel Waters wrote the first draft of the script in 1993, as a spin-off from BATMAN RETURNS in which Selina Kyle relocates to a crime-ridden small town in Arizona and learns that the city's leaders are members of a cult and are planning to destroy the city in a mass sacrifice. Tim Burton was in talks to direct, with Michelle Pfeiffer set to return as Selina.

>Waters' script was deemed too dark by WB, and the project was scrapped after BATMAN FOREVER became a box office hit.

>In 2001, the project was revived and the script was revised multiple times to make it a standalone movie, with Ashley Judd set to play Selina Kyle.

>In 2003, Further revisions reinvented the entire concept and replaced Selina Kyle with an original character, Patience Philips, to avoid conflicts with the BATMAN franchise, which was in development hell.

>Nicole Kidman was approached to play Patience before Halle Berry was cast.

>Josh Lucas was approached for Patience's love interest, Detective Tom Lone, before Benjamin Bratt was cast.

>Julie Newmar and Frances McDormand were approached for Patience's mentor, Ophelia Powers, before Frances Conroy was cast.

Thanks senpai. It's nice to have a break this weekend in particular.

>HOFFMAN as cobblepot !!!!!!

>Marky Mark as Robin

SUPERVILLAIN FUCKING SHITS

>Rupert Thorn
Why do so many of these early superhero film scripts use original characters as the main villains rather than villains from the comics? I remember some of the early Spider-Man scripts also doing that.

This is the only part that I'm disappointed about
I wanted billy Dee as two face.

Though then we wouldn't have Christopher Walken and Chip...so that would have sucked too.

So it could have been Batman & Robin?

meh, we got that anyway.

But Rupert Thorne is from comics too. He was originally introduced in Steve Englehart's run.

boi

Thorn was in the comics and TAS tho.

Wait, was Barsad the Masketta Man?

>Bill Murray as Batman, Michael J. Fox as Robin and Eddie Murphy as the Joker

If only

Yes.

>Sean Young in her prime will never stalk you
Why live?

Well, consider me schooled.

>David Duchovny as Batman
wut

>Oswald Cobblepot
>Russian
In what world is 'Cobblepot' a Russian name

>A David Cronenberg Batman film
Shit, that would have been interesting.

>>Rachel McAdams was offered the role of Rachel Dawes after Katie Holmes dropped out due to scheduling conflicts
Mother of god that would have been so much better and I say that as someone who thought Maggie was much better in the role then Katie.

Kobblepotski.

That would have been great, don't care what anyone says

>Karl Urban was linked to the role of Roman Sionis before the character was allegedly scrapped.

That would have been awesome

>campy '66 vibe directed by Burton
>throwing everything but the kitchen sink into a movie

Sounds like absolute shit.

>"I can't sanction your buffoonery".

EVERY. FUCKING. TIME.

>Julia Roberts, Demi Moore and Sharon Stone were considered for Poison Ivy

Ivy could have been really hot

I like the original choice for Gordon. He looks like he would have worked.

>Henry Cavill
>Heath Ledger
Little did they know, they would eventually be in a Batman movie themselves

She already was.

>Marlon Wayans was originally cast as Robin in Burton's version of the movie
I guess at least one good thing came out of switching to Shoemaker. And by good I mean not quite as bad.

Uma is definitely not as attractive as any of them during that time period, and didn't really have the looks to pull off Ivy. Granted, that may have been in part due to the costumes but even then she's too skinny.

Thorne was one of the prominent comic mob bosses in Gotham for years.

>WB rejected him as Katie Holmes had already been cast as Rachel and Jackson's casting would drawn unwanted attention to the fact they were both in DAWSON'S CREEK, which WB feared would undermine the movie's credibility

Movie exes seem really out of touch. The worst that would have got is a 'huh, they were in that one show weren't they?' and a few jokes. It wouldn't affect sales.

So the more WB has a say the more likely the movie is to suck. Just like everything else WB does.