10 Things You Didn’t Know About Tim Burton’s Batman
9. Michael Keaton Was Nothing Like The Casting Call
Casting Bruce Wayne/Batman was just as difficult as the Joker, for Warner Bros. The original draft of Sam Hamm and Warren Skaarens screenplay called for described Bruces physiology to resemble muscles on top of muscles', with scars 'from nightly combat. With this in mind, Warners first choice for the role was Mel Gibson, whod already proven himself as a tough nut action hero in three Mad Max films and the first Lethal Weapon. They even considered Arnold Schwarzenegger for the part at one stage. But Tim Burton ended up casting the svelte and skinny Michael Keaton who hed already worked with in Beetlejuice an actor far more used to comedy than combat. Batman comic book fans reacted negatively (with a 50,000-strong petition to un-cast him sent to Warner Bros), but this off-the-wall casting ended up being one the films uniquely interesting selling points. Keaton later revealed that his background in comedy actually came in handy when trying to flesh out the character and the heightened reality that he inhabits. It was Keatons idea to show Bruce hanging upside-down like a Bat at one stage, and to have him fail to recognise a room in his own house at another. Keaton said: "It makes all the other stuff even weirder and darker, because you're thinking, 'This guy's off.'"
