Actors who were almost Batman
When they were making the 66 tv show, Ty Hardin was offered the part but he turned it down to do a Spaghetti western in Italy. Football player turned actor Mike Henry was also considered when they wanted to an action-drama show, but he was dropped when the network decided to make it an action comedy. Burt Reynolds said that he expressed interest in playing Batman, but decided to stay away from putting himself in consideration. It was to both both Adam West and Lyle Waggoner who was best known for the “Wonder Woman” TV show and “The Carol Burnett” show. In the end Adam West won the role
In the 1980s, when WB was developing an Batman movie, director Ivan Reitman wanted to make a comedy Batman film with Bill Murray as Batman, Eddie Murphy as Robin and David Bowie as The Joker. But this never came to be.
When Tim Burton was hired to direct a dark take on the character, Murray was considered again, Mel Gibson was the studios first choice but he was unable to accept it due to “Lethal Weapon 2”, future-James Bond Pierce Brosnan met with Tim Burton about playing the role, but it didn’t go well and said that “anyone who wears his underwear outside his trousers shouldn’t be taken seriously, Ray Liotta was a possible contender but turned down an opportunity to meet with Tim Burton, a decision in which he stupidly regrets. Other names included were Charlie Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Costner, Harrison Ford, KyleMcLachlan, Patrick Swayze, Dennis Quaid and Tom Selleck. In the end Michael Keaton won the role and his Casting was met with backlash, until the movie came out and people consider him to be a great Batman.
After Keaton left the role, Warner Bros approached several actors for the role, Tom Hanks turned down the role, Ethan Hawke also turned down the role due to fear of being typecast, decision he regrets. Keanu Reeves, Johnny Depp and Kurt Russell were said to be considered but the final short list came down to Daniel Day Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, William Baldwin and Val Kilmer, who ended up winning the role.
After the disappointment that was “Batman & Robin” it was time for the franchise to be rebooted. A number of actors were considered, Heath Ledger and Cillian Murphy ended up played villains the Joker and Scarecrow respectively, Josh Harnett turned down the role, Ashton Kutcher was the studios choice but Nolan rejected the idea (a good decision). Other names considered were Joshua Jackson, Billy Crudup, Jake Gyllenhaal, future-Superman Henry Cavill, David Boreanaz and Eoin Bailey. In the end the role ended up going to Christian Bale who played the character for two additional movies following “Batman Begins”.
With the announcement of “Batman v Superman” in 2013, Josh Brolin, Gyllenhaal, Ryan Gosling, Armie Hammer, Joe Manganeillo, Max Martini, Richard Armitage, Wes Bentley (Christopher Nolan's recommendation), Orlando Bloom, Jon Hamm, Gerard Butler and Luke Evans were all considered for the role, actor and martial artist Scott Adkins auditioned for the role, but Ben Affleck was chosen and played Batman in only three movies (including his cameo in “Suicide Squad”).
After Affleck decided to step down four actors were considered, Robert Pattinson, Nicholas Hoult, Armie Hammer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. But Robert Pattinson won the role and I say he’ll do a good after all the hard work he did post-Twilight (TBH I hated that series), even with a capable director like Matt Reeves.