15 Strangest Movie Casting Rumours That Thankfully Never Happened

9. Stephen Tobolowsky As Alfred Pennyworth

Bruce Wayne's faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth has been portrayed most famously on screen by Michael Gough and Michael Caine, with Jeremy Irons the latest man to don a tuxedo in Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice. A few years before the superhero punch-up movie became a legitimate thing, plans for a Justice League movie called Justice League: Mortal - with Mad Max supremo George Miller in charge - were afoot. It seemed like odd timing. It was just a year after Superman Returns was rebooted with little known Brandon Routh in the title role, and production was just beginning on Christopher Nolan's re-imagining of The Dark Knight. Nonetheless, Warner Bros. pushed on with an ensemble movie that would be unconnected to either previous one. Among some of the strange casting decisions (more on that to come) was the rumour that Steven Tobolowsky would be playing Alfred. Tobolowsky is best known for low-key TV work on the likes of Californication, Deadwood and Heroes, but that's not the major problem. At the time of the rumour, he was in his 50's, much younger than Alfred is usually presented. Given that Christian Bale had been cast as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the Nolan movies around the same time, Tobolowsky's Alfred would have been little more than 10 years older than the Caped Crusader, which would have made no sense at all. But the Heroes actor wasn't the weirdest choice for the aborted Justice League film...