10 Shocking Batman Plans You Won’t Believe Almost Happened

10. Batman's Crazy Original Concept

For a character that has such an iconic look, it's crazy to think that Batman's costume was almost completely different.

The explanation for the early Batman's use of guns and willingness to kill is that he was heavily inspired by the violent pulp fiction heroes of the decade, like the Shadow and the Phantom.

That inspiration also played a pretty huge role when it came to designing Batman's costume. Bob Kane's original concept art for the character was a blond man in a bright red bodysuit (designed to resemble Superman at the time) and black domino mask who glided around on a giant pair of bat wings.

Fellow writer Bill Finger (who was actually responsible for most of Batman's iconic elements) came up with a cowled costume based on the Phantom and that eventually turned into a more recognisable version of the Batsuit.

The concept for Robin was even more bizarre. Originally, Batman's sidekick was going to be a character called Mercury. Mercury would be a young boy who wore a special suit that gave him magical abilities. Artist Jerry Robinson convinced Kane to tone down the character and call him Robin (after Robin Hood).