In 1966, Batman made his debut on the silver screen with Leslie H. Martinson's Batman: The Movie featuring Adam West as the titular superhero. Over the years, four more actors have taken up the cape and cowl "“ Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale "“ in seven different Batman movies. Ben Affleck, the newest one, is set to make his debut as the Caped Crusader in next year's DC Cinematic Universe flick Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Even though, you know the names of all these six actors who have played the Dark Knight on big-screen, you might not know the names of those who were so close to playing Batman, but somehow couldn't grab the role. And believe me – some names are indeed very shocking! Here is a list of no less than 17 actors who were considered for the role of second most popular superhero of all time!

Pierce Brosnan

Michael Keaton took up the cape and cowl for the 1989 flick Batman. But he wasn't the first choice for the role. Among the many actors considered for the role, Pierce Brosnan was a hot favorite. Director Tim Burton had approached the Irish actor but he declined!

Why did he decline? Because he wasn't interested in playing a superhero! Here’s what the actor said (via CinemaBlend):

“Yes, I did. I went and met with Tim Burton for the role of Batman. But I just couldn’t really take it seriously, any man who wears his underpants outside his pants just cannot be taken seriously. That was my foolish take on it. It was a joke, I thought. But how wrong was I?”

On the next page "“ two more actors, one of them is the Green Goblet!