Since Ben Affleck was announced as the next Batman, the internet has been a typically colourful and inflammatory place, spewing outrage and pompous, preposterous petitions to have him removed forcibly from the role (as if it is somehow cherished, and we can all lay claim to its preservation).
But really, Affleck is not that bad a choice.... his latest acting work – in Argo and The Town chiefly – has been exceptional, and it seems his move into directing has given him the same kind of insight into the art of acting that it gave to Clint Eastwood. And in the grand scheme of things, Affleck was far from the worst case scenario many are publically proclaiming him to be, because frankly, it could have been worse.
And such is the way with Batman casting – every time a new actor is cast, there is a multitude of rumours and almost castings that fans ignore, because their favourite wasn’t picked, or they felt aggrieved at the eventual choice (as with Michael Keaton famously.) But we should all be thankful for those dodged bullets, because we could have had some significantly worse Batmen than Ben Affleck could ever possibly manage to create.
Some of the actors tentatively attached to the role make Ben Affleck look like Orson Welles, and some were so misguided that they put this decision into perspective. You think Ben Affleck is a bad pick? Thank your lucky stars this lot were never hired to play the Bat…
Some of the actors tentatively attached to the role make Ben Affleck look like Orson Welles, and some were so misguided that they put this decision into perspective. You think Ben Affleck is a bad pick? Thank your lucky stars this lot were never hired to play the Bat…Read more at http://whatculture.com/film/10-actors-almost-cast-as-batman-who-would-have-sucked-more-than-affleck.php#kq20D78YWurCrszv.99
Armie Hammer
The man with the incredible name might have suffered a bit of a blip thanks to The Lone Ranger dying on its backside (unjustly for some,) his star will remain in the ascendancy. But, while he has the golden era good looks and presence to make that a reality, it still feels like a dodged bullet that his casting as Batman was never actually committed to film, because, to put it simply, that Batman wouldn’t have been the one we needed, nor the one we deserved at the time.
Read more at http://whatculture.com/film/10-actors-almost-cast-as-batman-who-would-have-sucked-more-than-affleck.php#kq20D78YWurCrszv.99
10. Heath Ledger
Before he was cast as The Joker (with hysterical fan outrage, it’s worth adding), the Aussie rising star was under consideration for the lead in Chris Nolan’s reboot: according to the director himself, the pair met to discuss the possibility, but Ledger was less than enthused by the project:
“He was quite gracious about it, but he said, ‘I would never take a part in a super hero film.”
Or at least, not yet.
Why It Would Have Sucked
For one reason and one reason only: the casting would have ensured that we didn’t get to see Ledger’s Joker, and that would have been the worst casting crime in the history of Batman movies, which is both ironic and deeply pertinent here, given the initial reaction to his casting before The Dark Knight.
Remember how outraged you were when you first heard the news? And remember how it all turned out? Yeah, that.
Ledger may have been a good Batman – his range was certainly proven in The Dark Knight – but he was undoubtedly a better Joker than anything he could have achieved on the other side of the good/bad divide, and we have to be thankful that he turned down Nolan’s initial suggestion outright.
Anyway, the success of Batman Begins was chiefly responsible for Ledger’s acceptance of the offer to be in The Dark Knight – and even before Jonathan Nolan had even written the script, according to Chris Nolan, who said Ledger acknowledged the success of what Nolan had tried to do with Batman Begins.
9. Tom Selleck
The former Magnum PI star doesn’t have so much luck when it comes to missing out on iconic lead roles: though he was excellent in 3 Men & A Little Lady, he infamously got to the final stages of Indiana Jones, including shooting some test footage, before his selfish Magnum PI bosses pointed out his iron-clad contract that forbid such lucrative (and potentially beneficial to them) dalliances.
Why It Would Have Sucked
Even though he sported one of the most luxurious moustaches in the history of facial furniture, Selleck is just too clean cut to pull off the necessary edge. Casting Batman isn’t as simple a process
Plus, there’s the moustache issue. It would have been great to see a Bruce Wayne with a glorious lip adornment, because playboys can only be made better by such arrangements, but the logistics of having a moustache and wearing the Bat-cowl are just plain troublesome.
And though there inevitably has to be an element of suspension of belief that noone recognises Wayne in costume, if Blake is able to decipher that great secret from a smile, you have to think that a big moustache hanging out from under the cowl is going to be a dead give-away.
“Hey, doesn’t Batman have a similar moustache to Bruce Wayne – you know, that billionaire guy who is basically one of two people in the whole of Gotham who still has a ‘tash…?”
8. Ethan Hawke
Back when Joel Schumacher was still considered a good option to replace Tim Burton on the franchise, the studio was scouring the known world for an actor to step into the boots of the excellent Michael Keaton, and the shortlist they drew up included Hawke, who had made some waves with Dead Poet’s Society, Alive and erm, White Fang.
Ultimately, Val Kilmer was cast, and Hawke, who apparently turned down the opportunity, went on to make Before Sunrise, and endeared himself to every romantic cinephile on the planet.
Why It Would Have Sucked
Somewhat incredibly, Hawke actually turned the role down because he thought it would hurt his acting credibility. That’s Ethan Hawke, star of such classic movies as Chelsea Walls, The Velocity Of Gary and Getaway.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Hawke is a good actor… in about a tenth of the films he actually stars in, which is about half the amount that you will be aware of actually existing (seriously, check his IMDB page, the man makes more films than Michael Madsen.) That he had the audacity to turn Batman down, considering some of the things he has gone on to make is just baffling, especially as there’s a good chance – simply looking at his success rate – that he would have sucked in the role.
Because for every Training Day, or the Before… series, there’s invariably a couple of stinkers, or something criminally mediocre sandwiching it.
7. Johnny Depp
Another one on the early list for Batman Forever – possibly because of his close links with outgoing Batman director Tim Burton – Depp would certainly have brought something different to the role than Val Kilmer, who was of course ultimately cast, but his association with the film never seemed to get beyond the talking stage. Thankfully.
Why It Would Have Sucked
Depp is just too quirky: he might have made a reasonable Batman, where the oddity could shine and he could channel his inner theatricality (though perhaps a little less than he did for Jack Sparrow) but he just doesn’t have the right charm or poise for Bruce Wayne.
And before you start arguing about his virtues as a genuine Hollywood star (which is what is needed for the Wayne side of the equation,) it’s best to consider the actor’s own agenda when it comes to accepting roles. His career choices tend to ignore the middle of the road leading man opportunities some of his acting counterparts regularly pick up, and he seems clearly dedicated to furthering the mythology of himself as a slightly off-centre quirky choice. And that just doesn’t fit the Bruce Wayne model.
You also get the feeling that Depp is simply too nice to play Wayne – from as far back as Keaton – and thanks to the source – there’s an arrogant streak in the character, and a manipulated social removal that allows him to move in high social circles, while remaining completely detached from them. And while the latter characteristic is pertinent in terms of Depp’s public persona, the caveat of arrogance/aloufness isn’t something that fits his profile.
6. Jake Gyllenhaal
Before Christian Bale brought his now infamous growl to Nolan’s Bat-franchise (having been initially turned down for the Robin role in Schumacher’s iteration of the franchise), Jake Gyllenhaal, who similarly was almost cast as Spiderman before his almost doppelganger Toby Maguire swung in successfully, was one of the names strongly attached to the role.
In fact, Gyllenhaal had the backing of David S Goyer, before auditions, though the writer was ultimately swayed by Christian Bale’s audition.
Why It Would Have Sucked
Not to be too cruel, but Gyllenhaal doesn’t have the emotional range necessary for more complex leading roles, and though Batman might seem to be a less challenging character to play considering the freedom afforded by the costume, the necessary dueling of personalities required to balance both Batman and Bruce Wayne is far from an easy prospect.
Several of the actors who have played Bruce Wayne in the past have failed to offer the right balance – most unfortunately George Clooney, who was given very little to do, and even Adam West was a pretty terrible Bruce Wayne – and Chris Nolan’s project required a casting choice that would have tackled both sides of the character with equal prowess. He got that with Bale, whose sub-Patrick Bateman touches to Wayne were an extra facet we hadn’t seen before, and while Gyllenhaal has shown a surprising aptitude for physical roles (like Prince Of Persia and Source Code to a slightly lesser extent), it would have been his Bruce Wayne that would have struggled to convince.
And you have to wonder quite how that would have played out with sister Maggie being cast in The Dark Knight…
5. Joshua Jackson
Along with Gyllenhaal, and perhaps considered for the same reasons as the former Donnie Darko lead, Joshua Jackson was considered
Why It Would Have Sucked
Quite why Jackson was even lightly considered for the role remains baffling. He played the charismatic, slightly wounded best friend type in Dawson’s Creek, and had hopped around various similar film projects after that ended, like Cruel Intentions, The Skulls and Urban Legend. None were of the calibre necessary to convince that Jackson was anything but a reasonably diverting side-character actor, charming in a boyish way, and perhaps a reasonable choice for Robin, if Nolan had wanted to go in the same tonal direction as Joel Schumacher.
But Batman he is not. And Bruce Wayne he definitely isn’t. Casting Batman isn’t just about casting the best actor (which Jackson isn’t), it’s about casting the right person – someone with that intangible edginess that suits the character, and one who exudes the necessary confidence and on screen power to captivate as both Batman and Wayne, while simultaneously being convincing as a social charlatan hidden in plain sight. None of this sounds like Jackson.
Had this rather unwanted Dawson’s Creek reunion actually happened, at least Katie Holmes wouldn’t have been quite so obvious as the worst casting choice in any Nolan film.
Stay tuned for the last 5 Actors that were almost casted as the Cape Crusader!
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