The Films: Batman Forever & The Dark Knight Only a couple of actors have been sought for separate roles in Batman movies: Christian Bale auditioned for both Batman and Robin at separate times, Sean Young tried to be both Vicki Wale (successfully but temporarily) and Catwoman (unsuccessfully), and two actors were up for different villains. The second of those will be discussed soon, but the first is the dearly departed Robin Williams, who was originally offered the role of The Joker before Jack Nicholson. Or so he claimed. That would have been a good fit, given his creepy turns in Insomnia and One Hour Photo, though he probably wouldnt have gone as straight, given that he later allegedly turned down The Riddler in Batman Forever for not being funny enough. Thanks to working with Nolan, Williams continued to be linked to roles in The Dark Knight trilogy, with strong enough rumours of him playing The Joker in 2008 that he actually commented on it:
Oh God, Id love to do that one. I think you can really explore how bright and how nasty-funny he is, just like I guess what Kevin did with Lex Luthor , made him really funny, but yet still damaged.
