20 Things You Didn't Know About Batman Begins
18. It Could Have Been Directed By Darren Aronofsky... And Joel Schumacher!
Before Christopher Nolan was hired to direct Batman Begins, Darren Aronofsky was strongly considered. Aronofsky's script, Batman: Year One, had Bruce Wayne living on the streets after his parents were gunned down. He would be adopted by a mechanic called Big Al who would train Bruce in combat and use his workshop to built weapons and the Batmobile. Weirdly, Aronofsky wanted Joaquin Phoenix to play the iconic superhero.
Aronofsky's script was scrapped because the producers thought it deviated too much from the source material. When he left the project, Matrix directors, the Wachowskis, were considered. Also, M. Night Shyamalan was approached to write the script at one point.
But do you know who wanted to make Batman Begins more than anyone? Joel Schumacher. That's right. The guy who nearly killed the franchise with Batman & Robin. Although Schumacher often gets the blame for how badly the film turned out, it was HIS idea to reboot the series after Batman Forever. He believed the series had become too cartoony and so, the next entry should be a dark, gritty prequel. The producers rejected the idea and told Schumacher to make a more “toyetic” Batman.