15 Actors Who Really Wanted To Be In Comic Book Movies (And Failed)
8. Bill Murray Wanted To Be Batman
Being of a generation whose Batman is Christian Bale and Christian Bale alone, the idea of Bill Murray answering Commissioner Gordons distress calls is a strange one indeed. For a while there back in the 1980s, Murray was being considered for the part in a film that would have been in the same vein as the hilariously camp Adam West TV show from two decades previous.
Warner Brothers eventually canned the idea and decided to take Batman in a different direction. In the end Tim Burton was hired on the back of the surprisingly successful Beetlejuice and he brought his star man with him. Michael Keaton donned the Dark Knights cape and the rest is history, with the box office takings speaking for themselves, though Murray maintained he would have been a good choice:
I would have been a fine Batman. You know, there have been a number of Batmen, I thought Michael Keaton did a great job as Batman. Its obviously a great role.