9 Actors Who Almost Played Comic Book Villains

Which characters had two faces?

Jesse Eisenberg Adam Driver
Warner Bros/Lucasfilm

A good hero is nothing without his or her villain to go up against, and a villain is nothing without a great actor portraying them. Nowhere is that fact more evident than in comic book movies.

Heath Ledger's casting as The Joker may have initially caused some outrage online, but his performance transcended the genre and turned The Dark Knight into something truly special. Much the same could be said for Jack Nicholson's take on the Clown Prince of Crime some 29-years prior as well.

Indeed, comic book villains have always held more appeal than their heroic counterparts for Hollywood's top talent. They're more colourful, more twisted, and have darker propositions befitting of serious psychological analysis, and therefore qualify as "proper acting". What's more, villains tend to only stick around for one movie, so they're perfect for serious thesps to cash in on without selling out to Hollywood for extended periods of time.

Oscar-winners like Gene Hackman, Tommy Lee Jones, and Ben Kingsley have taken on comic book villains over the past few decades, but the list of stars who've almost played them is perhaps even more impressive.

9. Robin Williams - The Riddler

Jesse Eisenberg Adam Driver
Deviantart - Elmic-Toboo

Robin Williams was initially approached to play The Joker for Batman (1989), with Jack Nicholson hesitating to commit. It's unclear whether Warner Bros were seriously interested or it was just a negotiating ploy, because Nicholson ended up accepting the role.

Cut to a few years later, and Williams was touted to play The Riddler for Tim Burton opposite Michael Keaton, but sadly the project never happened. Warner Bros were disappointed with the box office of Batman Returns, and blamed the film's violence and dark overtones for the $150m shortfall in revenue compared to 1989's Batman.

Burton agreed to take a step back, and let Joel Schumacher bring a more family friendly vibe to the series. As a result, Keaton parted ways with the character and Jim Carrey was brought in as the Riddler, much to the disappointment of self-proclaimed comic book aficionado Williams and moviegoing fans around the globe.

Years later, during Christopher Nolan's tenure with the franchise, Williams would again pitch for the role of the Joker, before eventually telling Empire:

"Chris, call me, I’ll do anything. I could be a great character — or some weird little man in the background in Arkham Asylum.”

Unfortunately, Williams never made it into a Batman film. He might not have been a fit for Nolan's more grounded approach, but the thought of his singular comedic talent being let loose to improvise as the Riddler opposite Keaton's Batman is one of the genre's greatest what ifs.

Contributor

Oliver Smith hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.