Hollywood owes a huge debt of gratitude to Tim Burton;s 1989 Batman movie. Prior to this, the only mainstream cinematic superhero most audiences had seen was Christopher Reeves' brightly coloured Superman. If Burton hadn't blazed a trail with this darker and more adult vision, would film studios today have the guts to make superhero movies into dark and socially relevant cinematic treats like The Dark Knight and Captain America: The Winter Soldier?
As Burton's Batman has earned such a legendary status in the decades since its release, it\s easy to imagine that the movie's production period was a happy time where everyone got on and everything went swimmingly. However, the true story behind the Batman movie of 1989 is completely different to what you might expect.
There were fallings-out, ideas that never came to fruition, and some very negative reactions to the film. Here are ten surprising facts about the film that you might not know
10. The Films Production Seriously Peeved Robin Williams
The role of the Joker wasnt always Jack Nicholsons. Before he had joined the film, Willem Dafoe had already been considered for the part and the executives at Warner Bros strongly felt like the future-Green Goblin actor was a perfect fit for the role. Tim Curry and David Bowie were also considered for the part. When Nicholson was eventually offered the part, he was hesitant to accept it (justifiably, as a darker superhero film like this was completely new ground at the time). Warner Bros reached out to Robin Williams, who accepted the part without delay, but what happened next really p*ssed off the late, great Good Will Hunting star. Rather than pressing ahead with Williams as agreed, Warners told Nicholson that they had another actor lined up and that this was his last chance to accept the role. Nicholson snapped out of his doubts and accepted the role, even though Williams already thought hed nabbed it. Inevitably, Williams was infuriated at having been used as bait in this way. Williams refused to work with Warner Bros for quite some time afterwards, until the studio officially apologise for mistreating him in this way. When he was later offered the role of the Riddler in Batman Forever, he turned it down.
