Before Christopher Nolan washed the bad taste left by Batman and Robin away with Batman Begins, Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan) was attached to helm a much darker, R-rated take on the iconic DC Comics hero.
The script, which Aronofsky co-wrote with Frank Miller, was inspired by Miller's Batman: Year One, but it would have taken some significant liberties with established Batman lore, with Bruce Wayne ending up homeless after his parents' murder, Alfred reimagined as an auto-repair shop owner named "Little Al," and more.
While speaking to the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Aronofsky explained that the movie he really wanted to make was The Fountain, but he figured the Batman project would give him enough clout with the studio to get the film into production.
"It was really kind of down and dirty, duct-tape type of movie," the filmmaker says of the unmade Batman movie. "It wasn't gonna be selling Batmobile [toys]... It was rated R."
Aronofsky also confirms that he was interested in bringing Joaquin Phoenix (Joker, Eddington) on board to play the Caped Crusader, but the studio was dead set on Freddie Prinze Junior (I Know What You Did Last Summer).
"I remember thinking, 'Uh oh, we're making two different films here.' That's a true story," Aronofsky told Empire in a 2020 interview. "It was a different time. The Batman I wrote was definitely a way different type of take than they ended up making. It was an amazing thing because I was a big fan of [Miller's] graphic novel work, so just getting to meet him was exciting back then."
"The Batman that was out before me was Batman & Robin, the famous one with the nipples on the Batsuit, so I was really trying to undermine that, and reinvent it," he added. "That's where my head went."
Though Aronofsky's Batman would no doubt have found an audience, it's difficult to imagine it having mass appeal. Most fans would tend to agree that this character should be dark - but this might have been pushing it a little!
Would have liked to see Aronofsky and Miller's Batman brought to life? Or are you glad that Nolan was the one who ultimately took charge of Warner Bros.' reinvention of the hero? Let us know in the comments section down below.
The full interview is well worth a watch, as Aronofsky also touches on several other superhero projects he was attached to, including Watchmen.