I was not aware of this, but apparently Fringe actor Joshua Jackson actually auditioned for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman before Christopher Nolan settled on Christian Bale. Now while speaking to Coming Soon about his future projects, Jackson reveals when prompted that if he was to receive another shot at The Bat, he would be more than happy. However he also admits that had he been cast the first time around, we would have ended up with a very different movie, and that Nolan and Bale made for a pretty intimidating duo to think about following up..
CS: You auditioned for the recent string of Batman movies. Now that Christian Bale is hanging up his cowl, are you gung-ho about trying out for the role again?
Jackson: Ahh... I'm not going to turn down an audition for Batman if they ask me. As much as nobody in their right mind would turn down that job, I don't know if you really want to be the guy after Chris Nolan and Christian Bale. Those movies are pretty fantastic.
CS: I haven't heard you growl “I'm Batman,” but you would certainly make a dapper Bruce Wayne.
Jackson: Well, thank you, I do my best. It would have been a different movie if I had been cast. You never want to admit you think somebody else made the right decision when they didn't hire you, but Christian Bale was pretty amazing. The marriage of Chris Nolan and Christian Bale for those Batman movies was spectacular. I would be intimidated to step into those shoes, but if they asked me to audition, I would.
It's not unheard of for a studio to go back and look at past options when recasting a role like this - look at Henry Cavill as Superman - so when the time comes for WB to think about the next man to don the cape, Jackson may be on their radar. Although personally, as much as I enjoy his work on
Fringe, I really don't think he would be a good fit for Batman. What about you guys?
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.