5 Movie Characters Who Improved After Recasting (And 5 Who Didn't)

It wouldn't make sense to recast Doc Holliday with Michael Keaton. It made about as much sense recasting Batman with Val Kilmer. When Joel Schumacher took the reins from Tim Burton after 1992's Batman Returns, the films took a hard left turn into corny land. Even Kilmer's smoldering intensity couldn't save him from the comical farce that was Batman Forever.

In hindsight, Tim Burton's Batman movies have a little of that corny element. At the time, however, they were pretty dark and serious compared to what comic fans were getting at the time. After Burton stepped down as director, the studio chose The Lost Boys director Joel Schumacher to helm the third Batman film.

This choice began driving Michael Keaton away from the project. Keaton was reported as saying that the Batman Forever script "sucked" and wasn't happy with the campy direction Schumacher was taking the franchise. Based on his performance in Tombstone, Val Kilmer was cast to take up the cape and cowl.

Even summoning Doc Holliday, Jim Morrison and Ice Man couldn't raise Kilmer's performance above the script. Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones' silly portrayals of The Riddler and Two-Face, coupled with eye-rolling dialogue ("It's the car, right? Chicks love the car.") made Batman Forever's runtime feel like forever.