Batman: Darren Aronofsky reveals Freddie Prinze Jr almost played superhero in scrapped film years before Dark Knight trilogy

Director clashed with Warner Bros over personal choice for Bruce Wayne

Before Christian Bale played Bruce Wayne, the Batman franchise was almost rebooted with another actor altogether.

Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky was hired by Warner Bros to oversee the new DC film after the success of Requiem for a Dream.

However, this film has gone down in history as one of Hollywood’s most famous doomed projects.

The filmmaker has now revealed what his particular Batman outing would have looked like while speaking to Empire.

“The studio wanted Freddie Prinze Jr and I wanted Joaquin Phoenix,” he said in the new issue. “I remember thinking, ‘Uh oh, we’re making two different films here.’

“That’s a true story. It was a different time. The Batman I wrote was definitely a way different type of take than they ended up making.”

Aronofsky’s Batman film drew heavily from Batman: Year One, the comic book written by Frank Miller, and was a more radical take on the caped crusader.

“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,” Aronofsky continued. “That’s where my head went.”

Christopher Nolan ended up being handed the reins to the franchise that became the Dark Knight trilogy with Bale in the title role.

Meanwhile, Phoenix went on to win a Best Actor Oscar for playing famous Batman villain Joker.

Next up is The Batman from director Matt Reeves, which will see Robert Pattinson playing the DC hero.

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