Pierce Brosnan was up for the role of Batman in Tim Burton’s adaptation, but turned it down because he couldn’t take the character seriously.
During a Reddit AMA (via ComicBook), the actor admitted he thought the role of Batman would make him look incredibly foolish. The actor clearly couldn’t grasp Burton’s vision, and the role eventually went to Michael Keaton. However, Brosnan admitted he shouldn’t have been so quick to judge.
“I went and met with Tim Burton for the role of Batman,” Brosnan wrote. “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? Don't get me wrong, because I love Batman, and I grew up on Batman. As a kid in Ireland, we used to get our raincoats and tie them round our neck and swing through the bicycle shed...”
Passing on Batman didn’t exactly hurt Brosnan’s career. The actor went on to play James Bond in four franchise installments, including “Die Another Day” where he starred alongside Halle Berry.
Bronsnan might’ve been afraid to look foolish by taking on the role of Batman, but the newest actor to step into the Batsuit doesn’t care about what other people think. Ben Affleck takes on the role of the caped vigilante in director Zack Snyder’s “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
Affleck recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly about his casting, and remained adamant he wouldn’t have taken on the role if he knew he wasn’t right for the part. However, Affleck is excited to see fans are already invested in the film despite its release date being two years away.
“It’s great that people do care that much,” Affleck said. “They want to see the movie that much. And it is incumbent on you to honor the story. There are the Greek myths and these are the American myths. The American myths are these superheroes. People care about ‘em a lot. And it’s incumbent on you to do a good job and make it as excellent as you possibly can. At the end of the day, the movie’s all that matters.”
