What Tim Burton’s Batman Forever Would Have Looked Like

9. Starring: As Batman... Michael Keaton

When Tim Burton was still involved, Michael Keaton was very much still interested in returning as Batman and Bruce Wayne. This would not have been a bad thing at all, because Keaton remains the best actor to have played both roles, with far greater subtlety under the cowl than all of those who followed and the perfect otherworldiness for Wayne.

But Keaton's character was inherently tied to the darkness of the project, which Burton was the driving force behind. When there were concerns about the film's ability to sell toys (and to provide acceptable Happy Meal prizes) the tone was lightened and Keaton lost interest, as he told The Guardian:

"(The film) just wasn't any good, man. I tried to be patient, but after a certain point, I was like, I can't take this anymore, this is going to be horrible... It sucked! The script never was good. I couldn't understand why he wanted to do what he wanted to do. I hung on for many meetings. I knew it was in trouble when he (Joel Schumacher) said, 'Why does everything have to be so dark?'"