21 Batman Movies That Almost Happened

15. The Alternate 1989 Batman (With Robin)

It might not have been a different project, but had the early script for Burton's Batman made its way to screen it would have been such a different film that it is important to include it here as a reference point and a separate entity. And the key difference, of course, was the inclusion of the Boy Wonder.

Back when Batman was still in its formative stages, the Robin issue was a big one for Warner Bros. and the to-ing and fro-ing on the debate caused running changed throughout different versions of the script. What is clear is that earlier drafts got to the stage of story-boarding with Robin still involved, and one version of the film would have included an origin tale very similar to that which was later used in Batman Forever. Rather than having Two-Face as the reason for Robin's familial tragedy, Batman 1989 would have had The Joker unwittingly killing the Graysons and inspiring Robin's origin.

That version included a horse-back chase sequence that would have Batman stripping naked while riding (seriously) in order to do a quick costume change into the Bat-suit, and would have resulted in a fireworks explosion that killed the Graysons - including a particularly grim death for Mrs Grayson, who would burn to death in front of Dick.

Given Robin's image - especially in the comics at the time - having him in would have compromised the dark tone, which is perhaps why the storyboards went so heavy on giving his family's death such rawness. Either way, we would have had a wholly different film.