Darren Aronofsky’s deserted Batman film has turn out to be a kind of cinematic “what ifs” that followers and movie historians like to revisit. Lengthy earlier than Matt Reeves put Robert Pattinson within the cowl, and even earlier than Christopher Nolan reshaped Gotham with Batman Begins, the Pi filmmaker was hooked up to a gritty reimagining co-written with comedian e book legend Frank Miller. However as a lot as individuals proceed to mourn the film-that-never-was, Aronofsky himself has now revealed that making the superhero film wasn’t even actually the objective.
On a latest look on Josh Horowitz’s Completely satisfied Unhappy Confused podcast, the Requiem for a Dream director defined why his curiosity in Batman was all the time extra difficult than it appeared. As he put it:
I wasn’t on… I used to be actually targeted on The Fountain. I actually by no means took that significantly. Um, I wished to make The Fountain, that’s the place I used to be at.
In different phrases, the Darkish Knight was by no means the primary occasion. The Mom! filmmaker admitted that his attachment to Gotham’s caped crusader was extra of a technique to push his ardour venture into actuality. He continued:
We [Frank Miller] co-wrote a script, however my complete technique on that one was I wished to make this completely wild, loopy movie about love and the seek for the fountain of youth. And I felt like if I used to be on Batman, they could let me make it, which is form of what occurred, kind of.
This gritty, low-budget tackle Batman might need appeared outrageous again within the early 2000s, however taking a look at it from 2025, it feels forward of its time. In any case, Robert Pattinson’s The Batman proved simply how effectively a darker, grounded method can work.
Aronofsky’s imaginative and prescient for Batman was wild in its personal proper. As he recalled, he and Miller had dreamed up a brutal, low-budget, street-level tackle the character that had little in frequent with the shiny superhero spectacles audiences had been used to on the time. He added:
Nevertheless it was additionally, you recognize, I feel, um, The Batman me and Frank pitched… or wrote… was a extremely form of down and soiled, duct tape kind of film that was by no means actually going to, uh, it wasn’t going to be promoting Batmobiles. You already know, I don’t assume I used to be the best man on the proper time. It was rated R… I feel an entire world of superhero movies needed to first come out to scrape the underside of that barrel earlier than they’d go to rated R movies, like a number of the later ones.
It’s a captivating “too early” second in superhero cinema. Years later, audiences would embrace darker R-rated comedian e book film fare like Logan and Joker, however within the early 2000s, studios had been nonetheless laser-focused on toy gross sales and four-quadrant blockbusters. Aronofsky’s “duct tape” Batman by no means stood an opportunity.
The casting dialog additionally revealed how totally different the superhero panorama was again then. When requested if the rumor was true that he would have forged Joaquin Phoenix as Bruce Wayne, the Wrestler director confirmed that the studio had a former teen heartthrob in thoughts:
Yeah, that’s true. Yeah. However, you recognize, famously, I pitched Joaquin they usually had been into Freddy Prince Jr… it was like a really totally different world.
It’s virtually surreal to think about how historical past might need unfolded if Phoenix, who went on to affix the ranks of comic-book Oscar winners for his efficiency in Joker, had donned the cape within the early 2000s. As a substitute, Nolan’s grounded however accessible Batman Begins would outline the character for a brand new era, and Aronofsky moved on to make The Fountain, a polarizing film for certain, however he admits it was the venture he cared about most all alongside.
Followers like myself who’re nonetheless bummed it by no means occurred and are nonetheless daydreaming about what his tackle the Caped Crusader may have seemed like, for Darren Aronofsky, the character was by no means the endgame. As a substitute, it was a stepping stone to telling the story he actually wished.
Remember to try our record of upcoming DC motion pictures to see what’s up and coming for the DCU on the 2026 film schedule and past.