Batman 1989: The Actor Who Almost Played Bruce Wayne

There has been a variety of actors that have played Bruce Wayne/Batman in movies and TV shows (both live-action and animated), and the 1989 movie Batman had Michael Keaton as the title hero – but when the movie was in development, other actors were considered for the role, including one that’s mostly known for comedic roles and for being quite a character off-screen. The Caped Crusader made his big screen debut in 1966 with Adam West in charge of playing the role, but Mr. Wayne gained more attention in 1989 with Tim Burton’s version.

Simply titled Batman, the movie had Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Jack Nicholson and Jack Napier/the Joker, Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale, and Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent. Batman follows the mysterious hero as he fights against the Joker and his plans to take over Gotham by poisoning its citizens with Smylex, a deadly chemical which causes victims to die laughing and with a maniacal grin, very much like the Joker’s. The movie was a critical and financial success, inspiring the now classic Batman: The Animated Series, and making way for three sequels, of which only one had Tim Burton and Michael Keaton back.

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Batman Returns was Keaton’s final adventure as Batman, with Batman Forever introducing Val Kilmer as the new lead and Batman & Robin replacing him with George Clooney. Keaton’s performance is remembered fondly by Batman fans, but he wasn’t the first option for the role, and during the many stages of development that Batman went through, a very different actor was considered for it.

Batman 1989 Could Have Had Bill Murray As Bruce Wayne

Batman went through a long pre-production process, during which many directors were attached to the project at some point, including Ghostbusters’ Ivan Reitman. His vision for the movie was a more comedic one, so he had a very different idea for the story and Batman himself. Reitman wanted to cast none other than Bill Murray as the Dark Knight and Eddie Murphy as his sidekick, Robin. However, the script went through more rewrites and other directors were also considered, and so Reitman’s ideas and involvement in Batman were over, as was the idea of Murray playing the character.

Once Tim Burton was hired as director, Warner Bros. pressured him to cast an action movie star, and Pierce Brosnan was approached, but he had no interest in playing a comic book character. Burton originally wanted Willem Dafoe to play Batman, but that never came to be. Producer Jon Peters then suggested Michael Keaton for the role, and having worked with him before in Beetlejuice, Burton agreed. A comedic Batman movie wouldn’t have been the best idea given that it would have been similar to the 1966 movie, though it’s interesting to imagine what Bill Murray would have brought to the character, whether as the comedy version Reitman wanted or a darker version like Burton’s.

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