10 Movies We Desperately Wanted To Happen (But Never Will)

The big enchilada. How different would the scope of comic book movies be today had Batman: Year One been made? It was up in the air throughout the early ‘00s, when Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy and the original X-Men movies were redefining comic book cinema, and could have had a major influence.

For one thing, Nolan’s Batman Trilogy likely wouldn’t have happened; Christian Bale was set to play Batman here instead. Whether Nolan would have been given such complete control after Year One is unlikely too.

After sending in a pitch to have a veteran Bruce Wayne played by Clint Eastwood to get the studio's attention, Darren Aronofski was set to be in the director’s chair, writing with comic book legend Frank Miller. Joss Whedon, the Wachowskis, and Joel Schumacher were allegedly all in the running at some point too. Aronofsky apparently originally pitched Eastwood for The Dark Knight Returns before shifting focus to Year One, but that movie would have been insanely good.

The film he fully pitched was set to follow the Year One comic, itself written by Frank Miller, which reinvented several aspects of Batman’s story. Alfred, for example, is now a younger African American man called ‘Big Al’. Year One was scrapped when Warner Brothers decided to concentrate on Batman Vs Superman, another hyped and eventually cancelled movie; it bears no connection to Dawn Of Justice.

Year One was eventually made into an animated movie in 2011, but a full budget live action one would’ve been a sight to behold.