The Batman that Never Was: Josh Brolin Confirms that He was in Talks to Play Batman

It was rumored last month that WB was looking into an older Batman and that Josh Brolin was the top contender for the role. Though Ben Affleck would eventually win the cape cowl, Brolin confirms that he was in talks to play Batman. Click the jump to see more.

Last month, while the rumor mill was in full swing, I reported a list of potential actors that WB was considering, when they were going the route of a middle-aged Batman. The top contender on that list was Josh Brolin. At the time, I could certainly agree that he had the acting prowess to pull off a very believable Bruce Wayne, but I couldn’t quite see him in the role. My reasoning was that he didn’t look the part. Since then, I’ve learned that he was probably the actor that looked most like Bruce. I was convinced otherwise when our editor, Roy, shared with the staff a picture that compared Brolin to Bruce from Batman: The Animated Series. Brolin could be a dead ringer for Bruce.

However, we all know now to whom the part would eventually go and there are still people raging over Batfleck. But was there ever any possibility that Brolin was actually in the running or was it just a rumor? Huffpost was curious enough to just ask Brolin in an interview and it seems that there was truth in the rumor.

Brolin says:

“We did. I didn’t have conversations about it, but Zack [Snyder], that was part of his idea. It just didn’t turn out. It’s OK. It is OK. You know, another scenario might have worked better, but I’m happy for Ben.”

If I were to try to interpret what’s being said here, it seems that Snyder was really pushing for Brolin to put on the cape and cowl, though for whatever reason, unbeknownst to Brolin, it didn’t work out. Without putting too much weight on another unverified rumor, it seems that this could have been one of the reasons that led to Snyder statement allegedly claiming that he must comply with WB, regardless of what he believes.

As far as Affleck goes, Brolin doesn’t quite endorse the new Batman, but he definitely sympathizes with the amount of flack Batfleck has received since the announcement and he wishes Affleck luck for no other reason than to silence all the naysayers on the Internet. He says, “I want him to kick ass and I want everyone to love it and kind of eat their words.”

Well, no point in crying over something that simply wasn’t meant to be. Though I would have been curious to see Brolin in the role, I’m currently in Brolin’s camp in that I really want to see how Batfleck takes all this rage and uses it to fuel a performance that really silences everybody.

Would Josh Brolin have been a better Batman? Or do you believe some of the Brolin critics in that he was simply too old for the role? Let me know.

Source – Huffington Post