5. Tim Burton's Batman Forever
What Was It: Initially, Burton was going to be involved with the third Batman film, what would eventually become Batman Forever. Unfortunately, most of what's known about this film is largely based on conjecture and various scripts floating around out there, so you'll have to take everything here with a grain of salt. One aspect of Batman Returns that was never filmed was the introduction of Robin. Marlon Wayans signed on to play the Boy Wonder and was even undergoing costume fittings when the decision was made not to use the character. Wayans' Robin would have been much different from the Dick Grayson we all know. His name would have actually been Robin and he would have been a street orphan€”first as the leader of a juvenile gang and in a subsequent draft, as a mechanic who works on the Batmobile and suits up to help Batman against the Penguin. Legend has it that Wayans' Robin would have definitely shown up in Burton's third Batman film. The Riddler would have been the main antagonist, with his head shaved into a question mark. Robin Williams was rumored to have been offered the role (and he was also offered it under Schumacher), but other rumors suggest Burton was interested in Micky Dolenz. Billy Dee Williams initially played Harvey Dent in Batman so he was guaranteed a chance to play Two-Face in a future installment. Early drafts of Batman Returns used Dent instead of Max Shreck and the electrical charge that killed Shreck would have been an explosion that caused Dent to become Two-Face. Again, most of this is conjecture, as some reports say Two-Face would have as big of a part as Riddler, while others say just a small appearance and still others say he wouldn't have appeared at all.
What Happened: Batman Returns was greeted with a wave of complaints from concerned parents, who felt that it had far too much violence and sexuality (which makes it a very good reason to see the film, if you ask me). McDonald's pulled their marketing for the movie based on those complaints and when Warner Brothers discovered that Burton's third installment would be just as dark, if not darker, they asked him to restrict his role to that of a producer.