While Batman’s enemies have spent years trying to deduce the crime fighter’s true identity (some of which have succeeded) who would have thought The Dark Knight was REALLY agent Double 007 ?!
In an AMA via reddit , actor Peirce Brosnan reveals he was approached to play the role of the new Batman in Tim Burton’s revamped vision in 1989, but claims it didn’t work out ( due to him being unable to comprehend how a film of this nature could work at the time). “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? 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…”
Of course this might be considered one of the biggest blunders of the actor’s career, but obviously things worked out on many fronts. Michael Keaton would go on to be cast (providing what many see as the best portrayal of Batman on film) while Brosnan became one of the most iconic James Bonds since Sean Connery. Other actors have foolishly done the same in the past. Eddie Murphy notoriously passed on Ghostbusters when Dan Aykroyd offered him a part during the filming of Trading Places .
The latest cinematic iteration of Batman will feature Ben Affleck donning the cape and cowl in the upcoming Batman v. Superman (hitting theaters in 2016).