10 Actors Who Almost Played Batman And It's Probably Good They Didn't

There have been plenty of iconic portrayals of The World's Greatest Detective over the years, and everyone has their favorites. Some love the campy style of Adam West, others prefer the darker, sometimes disturbing take by Michael Keaton. Some people even love George Clooney's Batman, for reasons we can't understand.

While Batman's been portrayed by a pretty diverse group of actors, what's even crazier are ones who were considered for the role but ultimately not cast. Trust me, some of these will genuinely surprise you.

1) Tom Hanks

Let's get one of the weirdest choices out of the way first. The nicest man in Hollywood was considered to play the Caped Crusader not once, but twice! His name was in the running for both 1989's Batman and 1995's Batman Forever. Can you picture him as Batman? Because I sure can't.

2) Johnny Depp

If you've seen a Tim Burton movie in the last two decades, it should come as no surprise that Burton used his position as the producer of Batman Forever to push hard for his friend Depp to get the role. Joel Schumacher apparently was a bigger fan of Val Kilmer.

3) Keanu Reeves

Reeves had been part of the casting call for Batman Forever, and even recently expressed interest in the role for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. He didn't get the part, but given how we all love him now as John Wick, it was probably for the best.

4) Harrison Ford

Before ultimately going to Michael Keaton, the role of Batman in Burton's first film was also considered for a number of other actors, including none other than Han Solo himself, Harrison Ford. This actually probably would've been really cool.

5) Bill Murray

THIS on the other hand is a bit more debatable. Burton also considered Bill Murray for the role, but frankly we're kind of glad this one didn't work out.

Click to the next page to see even more actors who were almost cast as Batman!

6) Ashton Kutcher

Okay, did anyone actually want this? There was a long list of potential candidates to play the Dark Knight in Batman V Superman, and apparently one of them was none other than Mr. Punk'd himself. Seriously, who thought this was a good idea?

7) Josh Brolin

One of the better suggestions out of the aforementioned Batman V Superman list, Brolin ultimately lost the role to Ben Affleck. However, given he's not only Thanos in the Avengers movies, but is now also going to be Cable in the upcoming Deadpool 2, we're pretty sure he's doing just fine for superhero movies. (Just pretend Jonah Hex didn't happen, like he does).

8) Daniel Day-Lewis

Okay, does it get any weirder than the casting call list for Batman Forever? As if Forrest Gump and Neo weren't weird enough choices, they also put the king of method acting on the list as well. Who knows what his Batman would've been like?

9) Cillian Murphy

One of the few actors who lost the role but ended up in the movie anyway, Cillian Murphy was actually a major contender for the role in Batman Begins. While it ultimately went to Christian Bale, director Christopher Nolan was impressed enough by Murphy to instead cast him as one of the film's lead villains; Dr. Jonathan Crane, AKA "The Scarecrow."

10) Heath Ledger

Yes, you read that right. The actor who would go on to give one of the definitive versions of The Joker to the world, only to unfortunately pass away soon after, was a front runner for the role well before Christian Bale was cast. We're sure Ledger could've been a great Dark Knight, but his Joker is now a part of comic book movie history.

Who would you consider to play Batman?

Prefer your Batman animated? You're in luck! Mask of the Phantasm is coming to blu-ray!