10 Shocking Batman Plans You Won’t Believe Almost Happened
7. Azrael Was Almost Batman Permanently
When Bruce Wayne had his back broken by Bane, he needed to appoint a successor to the mantle of Batman. In a weird move, he skipped right over Dick Grayson and chose his new sidekick, the former assassin Azrael.
The "AzBats" period is considered one of the worst in Batman comics. This new Batman was a horrible combination of all the worst parts of the 90's, bulky power armour, pouches everywhere and an ridiculously gritty backstory.
Rumour has it that writer Denny O'Neil deliberately made Azrael as over the top as possible to parody the other super-violent characters who were popular at the time like Spawn and Cable, even including insane features like rocket launchers and flamethrowers in his armour.
However, the plan apparently backfired horribly and there are rumours that Azrael was initially so popular with fans that DC wanted to have him permanently replace Bruce Wayne.
Luckily, the tide turned when Azrael murdered the criminal Abbatoir in cold blood. After that, his popularity tanked and DC were willing to bring back the original Batman.
In-story, Azrael's increasingly violent and erratic behaviour pushed Bruce to train himself back into fighting shape and take back his mantle.