If Michael Keaton was never Batman, other actors who might have pulled it off

bruce campbell

Until recently, Baldwin would have been my ideal 80s/90s Batman/Bruce Wayne. He looked the part, he has the voice, and he was arguably the WASPiest out of all the options, so he gave the vibe of being an old-money type, and I could see him possessing the physicality to do a lot of the action scenes. But in view of recent events, I now wonder if Burton-Batman fans dodged a bullet...Keaton may not look like the classical Bruce Wayne from the comics, but he brought a lot of personality to the part, and it was a unique take on the character (i.e. the brooding loner/misfit, who only becomes a threat when he dresses up in an imposing bat-outfit), and thankfully, Keaton hasn't been involved in any controversies which might have tarnished his films in hindsight (in contrast to, say, Baldwin and Gibson).

As an aside, and as a big fan of The Rocketeer, had DC/WB chose to do a full DC Universe reboot circa early 90s, Billy Campbell would have been my pick for Superman/Clark Kent, with Alec Baldwin as Batman/Bruce Wayne. I think Campbell would have had the warmth to play Superman, if not the darkness for Batman.

val kilmer would have been perfect batman subsitute.

the problem kilmer have is he is great batman but he in shit batman film.

but if keaton pass on this then i think kilmer be good substitute

Baldwin would've been a solid choice. Only issue with him is that he was actually in a real life romantic relationship with Kim Basinger. When I watch Batman I see Bruce Wayne and Vicky Vale no Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger, With Baldwin in the lead role it might have been the contrary. Also Mel Gibson is about 5'9-5'10 which is the same height as Keaton. I couldn't see him in the role whatsoever, but it has nothing to do with his height

I think John Larroquette could have been a good Joker. I think in the 90s he played some sort of homicidal character on The Practice plus he has good comedic timing.

Great choices here, and in the other replies. I particularly like the unorthodox choices of Bruce Campbell the other Campbell from Rocketeer.

I have a new one. I don’t know if he’s considered leading man handsome to the ladies, which certainly doesn’t matter to me, but might to Warner’s executives in 1989.

TIMOTHY HUTTON

29 at the time. Actually 6’0’’… three inches taller than Keaton. Already an Oscar winner (most choices weren’t), and it was for a role of tortured, traumatized soul (in Ordinary People from 1980) dealing with loss. Did some yelling, believably crazy… full of rage. Later did a role requiring dual personality in Stephen King’s The Dark Half.

My only stipulation is he bulk up at least to the extent Christian Bale did.

The best thing about it is I have a feeling that maybe his lighter Bruce Wayne in Returns (as opposed to Keaton talking about Ted Bundy and so forth) would mean there would be less backlash against Tim Burton’s multifaceted darkness scaring children… and therefore both he and Hutton would stick around for multiple more movies into the 90s/00s.

No backlash. No Joel Schumacher necessary… because Hutton doesn’t appeal to the campy fags anyhow. Nobody would care about Hutton’s batnipple suit… no square jaw, which is fine by me if he plays the way I envision.

It’s about character. Hutton has the elitist character of Bruce Wayne, facade or no. We would be sold on him not being suspected as the caped crusader as well. Sean Young was initially pegged for Vicki Vale, and I think she may have chemistry with Hutton. So, we can lose Basinger also… no sweat.

Nicholson stays of course—first billing!

Donald Sutherland could be Alfred, which would be interesting as they already had father/son dynamic from 1980’s Best Picture winner.

Nobody thinks about Timothy Hutton today, that’s for sure, but he would grow along with the role… would be more grateful than Keaton for the opportunities, and would now be respected A-Lister!

https://youtu.be/3aWs7YChHEo

Daniel Day-Lewis