1. Bill Murray As Batman (And David Bowie As Joker)
Ok, so you might have to adjust your thinking about Batman to get your head around this one. Successful big screen versions of the Caped Crusader have been dark ever since Tim Burton got his gothic tendrils on the 1989 Batman film, a trend that has continued with Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, all the way through to Zak Snyder's upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Yes, there were digressions into silliness thanks to Joel Schumacher, but Batman Forever and Batman & Robin are (rightly) vilified and ignored by most fans nowadays. But for a moment imagine the default version of Batman to be the goofy, campy, dancing Batman that Adam West popularised in the 1960's and that Schumacher attempted to channel in the '90's. In that world, you can begin to understand why someone, somewhere, thought Bill Murray as Batman was a good fit. This rumour came about in the 1980's, when a script called The Batman was doing the rounds in Hollywood. Though the script took some of the darker elements from the comics, studio execs were still wedded to the idea of Batman as a mostly comedic character. Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman was slated to direct, and felt Murray's smarm and charm would be a good fit for Bruce Wayne. In the end The Batman was never made, but some of the casting rumours make you wonder exactly how much cocaine was going around in Hollywood in the '80's. Plans were afoot to have Michael J. Fox as Robin and David Bowie as Joker. Bowie's vaudevillian camp, Fox's comedic chops and Murray's aloof sarcasm together? It might have been funny, but it most definitely wouldn't have been Batman. We should all be thankful that Tim Burton came aboard, threw out those ideas and cast Michael Keaton to add darkness and gravitas to the Caped Crusader. Which other near miss casting decisions belong on this list of oddities? Share your favourites below in the comments thread.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
