The original director of one of the canceled live-action Batman movies shares new details about the story and casting. In the world of superhero characters on the big screen, the Dark Knight is one of the players to be reimagined the most throughout the last couple of decades, including the DCEU movie timeline in recent years.

However, while the comic book film genre has come a long way to reach today’s superhero landscape, there have also been various projects that were canceled after almost coming to fruition. One of them is Darren Aronofsky’s Batman film in the early 2000s, which was meant to be a loose adaptation of Frank Miller’s famous Batman: Year One story.

During a new interview with Happy, Sad, Confused, Aronofsky was asked about what really happened to the Batman movie that he was initially set to direct. While having worked on a script with Miller, the idea of an R-rated film based on the Caped Crusader wasn’t right at the time, as Aronofsky shared the following:

We co-wrote a script but my whole strategy on that one was I wanted to make this totally wild, crazy film about love and the search for the Fountain of Youth. And I felt like, if I was on Batman, they might let me make it, which is kind of what happened, sort of. But it was also, I think the Batman me and Frank pitched – or wrote – was a really kind of down and dirty duct tape type of movie that was never really going to…It wasn’t going to be selling Batmobiles. I don’t think I was the right guy at the right time. It was rated R…I think a whole world of superhero movies had to first come out to scrape the bottom of that barrel before they would go to rated R films like some of the later ones.

In terms of casting, while it has been said for years that Joaquin Phoenix was being eyed for the lead role, Aronofsky confirmed that he definitely had him in mind for Batman. However, Warner Bros. wanted a very different star for the Gotham City hero, as Aronofsky also said the following:

Yeah that is true [about having Joaquin Phoenix in mind for Batman.] But famously, I pitched Joaquin, and they were into Freddie Prince Jr. It was a very different world back then, aesthetically what was going on.

What Darren Aronofsky’s Batman Comments Mean

When Warner Bros. was looking at rebooting Batman, it was coming only a few years after the mᴀssive box office bomb that was Batman & Robin, which pretty much ended the franchise for the time being. As studios were very reluctant to invest in the comic book genre again, the idea of an R-rated film for the DC icon would have definitely been a tough sell at the time.

While there have been numerous movies that have taken Bruce Wayne to darker places since then, it wasn’t until 2019’s Joker, which did end up starring Phoenix as the тιтular Batman foe, that a project was rated R. If Aronofsky were to make one of the upcoming Batman movies today, an R-rating would be more possible now than it was 25 years ago.

Our Take On Darren Aronofsky’s Batman Comments

After hearing Aronofsky’s story for his Batman film, it would actually be quite rewarding if he did get to make an R-rated movie for DC Studios. With the Clayface movie coming up, which will be rated R, according to James Gunn, there is definitely space for that option, even in the new DC Universe franchise.

Given how talented Aronofsky is as a filmmaker, DC Studios could get something very special with him for a dark DC film, as long as it is for the right character. After what went down with his Batman film, Aronofsky will ideally finally get his chance with the comic book movie genre in the future.