What if Batman Triumphant was made.

Batman Triumphant was the planned sequel to Batman & Robin. The script was written by Mark Protosevich and Joel Schumacher was signed to direct it. It was cancelled after the negative reception of Batman & Robin. Check out what we missed out on! MrMurdockk

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By MrMurdockk - 4/14/2011

During the filming of Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. was impressed with the dailies. This prompted them to immediately hire Joel Schumacher to return as director for a sequel, but writer Akiva Goldsman, who worked on Batman Forever and Batman & Robin with Schumacher, turned down the chance to write the script. In late 1996, Warner Bros. and Schumacher hired Mark Protosevich to write the script for a fifth Batman film. A projected mid-1999 release date was announced. Titled Batman Triumphant, Protosevich's script had the Scarecrow as the main villain. The Joker would return as a hallucination in Batman's mind caused by the Scarecrow's fear toxin. Harley Quinn appeared as a supporting character, written as the Joker's daughter trying to get revenge on Batman for the Joker's death. George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell were set to reprise the roles of Batman and Robin. However, when Batman & Robin received negative reviews and failed to outgross any of its predecessors, Warner Bros. was unsure of their plans for Batman Triumphant. The studio decided it was best to consider a live-action Batman Beyond film and an adaptation of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One. Warner Bros. would then greenlight whichever idea suited them the most. Schumacher felt he "owed the Batman culture a real Batman movie. I would go back to the basics and make a dark portrayal of the Dark Knight." He approached Warner Bros. of doing Batman: Year One in mid-1998.

BATMAN & ROBIN

George Clooney | Bruce Wayne: After witnessing the murder of his parents, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicated his life to ridding Gotham City of crime. After years of physical and mental training, and utilizing his vast family fortune, he became a heroic symbol that strikes fear into the hearts of criminals, the Dark Knight: Batman.

Chris O"Donnell | Dick Grayson: Batman's first partner Robin, Dick Grayson has matured into a master crime fighter in his own right as Nightwing.

ALFRED & GORDON

Michael Gough | Alfred Pennyworth: Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth is Bruce Wayne's Butler. Alfred raised Bruce (and later Dick Grayson) after the death of the Wayne's.

Pat Hingle | Commissioner Gordon: Jim Gordon was the first supporter of Batman on the GCPD. He is currently the Commissioner of the Police Department. He is usually the one who turns on the Bat Signal when help is needed. Jim Gordon is a good friend of Batman.

SCARECROW

Steve Buscemi

Ewan McGregor

Jeff Goldblum

Jonathan Crane: Often known as the Master of Fear, the Scarecrow is an enemy of Batman. Recently, the Scarecrow was chosen to be the Sinestro of Sector-2814, due to his ability to instill fear. But, Scarecrow is losing his sanity due to his lack of fear, knowing only Batman can scare him.

All three actors were rumoured to the part. None of them were signed.

THE JOKER

Jack Nicholson | Jack Napier: The Joker, Clown Prince of Crime, is Batman's arch-nemesis. An agent of chaos known for his purple three-piece suit and insidious smile, he has caused Batman more suffering than any other villain he has ever faced.

HARLEY QUINN

Madonna | Harleen Quinzel: The Arkham psychiatrist who fell in love with the Joker. A "mad love" would lead her to a life of crime as Harley Quinn, frequent accomplice, and former would-be-girlfriend of the Clown Prince of Crime.

MAD HATTER

Martin Short | Jervis Tetch: He is psychotic and has an obsessive-compulsive disorder. His main weapons are mind controlling devices. He is very short standing about 4'8 inches and weighing 149 pounds.

MAN-BAT

Mark Linn-Baker | Dr. Kirk Langstrom: Dr. Kirk Langstrom was working on a serum to help overcome his deafness using bat DNA, because he had no funding he tried it on himself and turn into the Man-Bat.

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19 Comments

	DarthTesla - 4/14/2011, 9:13 PM Login to report abuse Very interesting indeed. Love Clooney, hated him as Batman, though.
	MrMurdockk - 4/14/2011, 9:21 PM Login to report abuse CaptainDusty I completely agree with you. Great actor, but terrible as Bats and Wayne. demonhunter15 Agreed, this movie actually looks half decent :P And I'll see what I can find on Superman Lives.
	MrMurdockk - 4/14/2011, 9:27 PM Login to report abuse
	KilledHal9000 - 4/14/2011, 9:32 PM Login to report abuse Yeah do one for Superman Lives! I thought they were gonna get Howard Stern for the Scarecrow..?
	StuartGreen01 - 4/14/2011, 9:34 PM Login to report abuse I remember reading a lot more rumors about this, like Man-Bat framing Batman for murder when he kills Batgirl in the first 20 minutes of the movie, Jenny McCarthy being up for Harley Quinn, Howard Stern (!) being up for the role of Scarecrow, and a "Sleepy Hollow"-like scene where Scarecrow chases after the Batmobile on a fire-breathing horse in a spooky forest near Arkham. I wonder how much of it was fact and how much was fiction, though. I also remember a rumor where "Batman Returns" was supposed to mention that Joker's body mysteriously disappeared from the morgue or cemetery, whichever it was, and another rumor that Joker would later appear alive in the tunnels of Gotham sewers and encounters the Red Triangle Gang clowns after they flee Penguin, offering to make them his new henchmen. Even "Batman & Robin" was supposed to include a scene where Pamela Isley meets up with Julie Madison at the Observatory party after Isley steals the Bat-Signal keys from Gordon and she fatally stabs Julie with the same knife she uses in her fight with Batgirl, but it was cut because Joel Schumacher wanted to use Julie in a sequel or something to that effect. Anyone else hear those rumors, too? I wish I could remember where those reports originated.
	DarthTesla - 4/14/2011, 10:34 PM Login to report abuse @StuartGreen01: The idea of Scarecrow riding around on a flaming horse sounds cool and probably would have worked in those movies, because of their cartoony nature. Also would have loved to have seen Nicholson's Joker one more time.
	Jer3miah - 4/14/2011, 11:38 PM Login to report abuse Wow.. Ya know, if this wouldn't have interfered with Nolan's films, I would have loved to see it. I mean, Schumacker is capable of dark movies. Number 23 was gritty as hell and mind-blowing. He is capable with the right script. I didn't like Clooney in the movie, though. I like him normally, but not as a CBM hero. O'Donnell WAS THE Robin, though. No complaints about him. You guys forgot that in BB, Scarecrow does that toward the end to Rachel. Ha ha, the horse blew out fire and all. Great freakin' DvD illustration, by the way. It looks amazing.
	MrMurdockk - 4/15/2011, 12:07 AM Login to report abuse KilledHal9000 Don't worry man, it's one it's way... StuartGreen01 Wow, never heard of them.. but it would explain why Batgirl was excluded from the cast, hmm... very interesting. WittySupernameIndeed it is, weird I know. Jer3miah I agree. This movie sounds like it would of been a HUGE improvement!
	George88 - 4/15/2011, 1:34 AM Login to report abuse What year was this supposed to come out? I was looking forward when I was younger but never saw it. Apparently Schumacher was gonna make the movie dark because he owed Batman films a true film after Batman and Robin. Wasn't Batgirl meant to die in the first act or something? I think this movie would of been cool although there are a lot of villains. Madonna would of sucked majorly and wasn't the Joker scene a flashback or hallucination? Still would of liked to seen this or perhaps the script. Imo could of been an improvement over Batman & Robin.
	George88 - 4/15/2011, 1:38 AM Login to report abuse @StuartGreen01 Wow, those rumours seem pretty cool. I love reading up about those sort of rumours. That Pamela Isley scene would of certainly been cool to watch and of course Joker coming back would of been epic! Also that Scarecrow and Batmobile thing sounds very good spooky indeed seeming as Nolan used the flaming horse in Batman Begins. I can imagine that scene really working with Scarecrow in the forest near Arkham. Would of been scary as shit!
	jimoakley666 - 4/15/2011, 3:03 AM Login to report abuse Oh, god. I think I... yep. I was just sick in my mouth.
	Urban8er - 4/15/2011, 5:54 AM Login to report abuse It would have been interesting to see, but I'm glad that it didn't happen. Nice article dude.
	manymade1 - 4/15/2011, 11:52 AM Login to report abuse lol I didn't know Hatter was going to be in it.
	subzero1077 - 4/15/2011, 1:05 PM Login to report abuse Madonna...really???? Only Kristen Bell is allowed to play Harley Quinn!
	Ryden - 4/15/2011, 2:37 PM Login to report abuse The thing about Clooney is, given good direction I bet he would have been an amazing Batman. Becuase he's got all thr right wualities, he looks like Bruce Wayne, he;s a fantastic actor. Such a shame that Joel Schumacher had to [frick] up that franchise so bad, it would have been cool to see the third Tim Burton film as well as a GOOD Clooney Batman.
	cosmicstranger - 4/17/2011, 8:58 AM Login to report abuse Madonna for Harley Quinn? Scratches head Here is something: If Martin Short actually played Mad Hatter, would he have been acting?
	comiccow6 - 7/2/2011, 10:54 AM Login to report abuse Wonder what Man-Bat would have looked like.
	comiccow6 - 7/2/2011, 10:56 AM Login to report abuse And think about it, if this was made,we might not have had Batman Begins!
	nathan02 - 10/12/2011, 3:57 AM Login to report abuse Glad it didnt happen... Otherwise we would not be seeing any of nolans bAtman films..

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