21 Batman Movies That Almost Happened

9. Joel Schumacher€™'s Batman: DarKnight

Instead of giving Schumacher what he wanted with The Dark Knight Returns, Warner Bros initially came to a compromise by going in a darker direction and approaching rookie writers Lee Shapiro and Stephen Wise to pitch a new sequel idea, with the impetus on returning the character to his dark, edgier routes.

The idea of the plot was to have Bruce Wayne abandon his station as Gotham's Dark Knight, after realising that his greatest weapon over his enemies - fear - was lost. Meanwhile, Dick Grayson is at Gotham University, under the guidance of Professor Jonathan Crane, who used his students as guinea pigs to test out his fear toxins, before evolving into the Scarecrow. The film would also include Man-Bat, who would transform from Crane's colleague Dr Kirk Langstrom - which makes the whole thing sound a little like The Amazing Spider-Man's school-set plot.

With Batman off the map, Gothamites start to believe Man-Bat is one and the same, and the real Batman must return to take down the villains, save Robin and restore his good name. Ultimately though Warner Bros. passed in favour of chasing a Year One adaptation, and Batman Beyond.