William Baldwin

Even though Quentin Tarantino commented in 2014 that Alec Baldwin would have made a great Batman in the 1980s, it was actually his younger brother William Baldwin who was very close to take up the cape and cowl – not just once, but for two different movies. That’s what William himself claimed!

According to the actor, he was one of the four actors shortlisted by Joel Schumacher for Batman Forever, but fell behind Val Kilmer. Then, when the director needed a replacement of Kilmer for the next movie, Batman & Robin, William was even closer. The actor said (via ComicBookMovie):

“The next time, when George Clooney did it, (Schumacher) said, ‘You were on my original short list with those other three actors, but the studio went with Val and this time I’d like to go with you.’ And that Friday afternoon, I thought I was playing Batman – and then Monday morning, the headlines in the trades said that George Clooney had gotten the part. So apparently, I did actually come very close.”

Even though the actor couldn’t launch himself as Batman in live-action movie, he did grab the opportunity to voice the superhero in 2010 animated flick Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths.

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the finest actors in Hollywood who has bagged Academy Award for Best Actor no less than three times. According to what William Baldwin revealed, Day-Lewis was one of the four names in Joel Schumacher’s shortlist of actors for the role of the Dark Knight in Batman Forever. We don’t know whether he was actually interested in playing Batman as he once stated that chances of seeing him in Hollywood blockbusters is very unlikely and he also had also declined the offer of playing Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings franchise.

One of the two actors on the next page is the Scarecrow!