Warner Bros.
After the awful Batman & Robin and prior to the epic Batman Begins, there was a moment in time where Warner Bros. were considering handing the keys to the character to Darren Aronofsky, who was fresh off of the success of Requiem for a Dream.
As the story goes, Aronofsky had plans to make a hyper-realistic adaptation of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, which follows Bruce Wayne during his first year as the Dark Knight. Based on what I’ve read about the project throughout the years, it doesn’t sound particularly good, as it seems to lean into darkness for darkness sake.
What is certainly interesting, though, is who Aronofsky wanted for Bruce Wayne: Joaquin Phoenix.
In a new interview with Empire magazine, Darren Aronofsky looks back at his failed comic book film “Batman: Year One” and reveals it was his desire to have Phoenix star as Bruce Wayne that got the project killed by Warner Bros. studio executives. Aronofsky has said he was interested in casting Phoenix in the past, but this is the first time the director has shared the studio’s refusal to hire the actor.
“The studio wanted Freddie Prinze Jr and I wanted Joaquin Phoenix,” he recalls. “I remember thinking, ‘Uh oh, we’re making two different films here.’ That’s a true story. It was a different time. The Batman I wrote was definitely a way different type of take than they ended up making.” [via IndieWire]
Both Phoenix and Year One would eventually make their way to the Batman Cinematic Universe, as both Batman Begins and the upcoming The Batman draws inspiration from the iconic graphic novel, while Phoenix obviously went on to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime in Joker. It worked out all for the best, too, because while Phoenix was an excellent Joker, he would have been an awful Batman.
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Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Follow him on Twitter @eric_ital for movie and soccer takes or contact him eric@brobible.com