10 Things You Need To Know About The Batman TV Show That Didn’t Happen
Because back in 1999, plans were being made for a live-action Bruce Wayne series.
Over the decades, there have been so many different live-action incarnations of Batman.
From Lewis Wilson, to Robert Lowery, to Adam West, to Michael Keaton, to Val Kilmer, to George Clooney, to Bruce Thomas, to Christian Bale, to David Mazouz, to Ben Affleck, to Iain Glen, and even to Kevin Conroy in The CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, there have been a multitude of varying takes on the Caped Crusader. But back in 1999, audiences were so nearly given yet another spin on the Batman mythos.
To be titled simply 'Bruce Wayne', plans were afoot for a TV series centred on the younger days of Bruce and the journey that would culminate in the billionaire finally becoming the Dark Knight.
Despite the idea being green-lit by Warner Bros. TV, a full script written for the show's pilot episode, and the entire first season and beyond mapped out, Bruce Wayne would be cancelled before it could get in front of a camera or even had chance to officially announce the cast for the series.
Here, then, are 10 things that you need to know about the Bat-show that never was.
10. Alfred Would Have Served As The Narrator
From a leaked pilot script and initial outline for the series, each episode of Bruce Wayne would've been narrated by Alfred Pennyworth.
By all accounts, Alfred would actually serve as a bookend on each episode, with an older version of Master Wayne's famed butler reflecting back on his memoirs to divulge Bat-tales of yesteryear based around Bruce's younger days and his ascension towards eventually becoming the Caped Crusader.
Nobody knows Batman as well as Alfred, and taking this approach to the series sounds like a hugely intriguing way to deliver the show. Rather than outright reliving the entire story of the young Bruce Wayne, this would afford the show's Alfred the opportunity to highlight a particular anecdote from the past, while then potentially giving a present-day reflection on how this past adventure ties in to how Batman became the Batman we know and love.
The Bruce Wayne series didn't get close to announcing its cast, so we'll never know who was being lined up to play Alfred in the show. That said, topping Michael Gough's Alfred would be a tough ask for any actor.