12 Shocking Batman Movie Plans That Almost Happened
6. Bill Murray As Batman
In the days before Batman '89 came out, there was still some disagreement about whether a film adaptation ought to be a comedy or something closer to the darkness of the comics. For a while there, a comedy was winning, as Bill Murray was almost cast to play Bruce Wayne.
This was when Ivan Reitman was set to direct and was apparently looking at the camp and tongue-in-cheek tone of Adam West's Batman. He also, apparently, wanted Eddie Murphy to play his Robin, because apparently 1980s Robin would have been very different to Chris O'Donnell's Robin.
Obviously, Warner Bros did cast a comedian, but Michael Keaton is dark and edgy enough to carry to role, while Murray would have made him far less a straight character. It'd be like casting Jack Black as Green Lantern...