Let's say that instead of working with the script that resulted in Batman (1989), Tim Burton instead directs the script that becomes Batman Begins. The cast and crew are mostly the same where applicable, with absent characters obviously not being played. I'm curious who would be a good choice to play Ra's Al Ghul and the Scarecrow, among the other new characters at this time, and how Burton and the crew would handle the script, along with marketing and any other things the people of this board can think about.
Batman Begins replaces Batman 1989
- Thread starter The Dude Bro
- Start date
(Hey, It`s Tim Burton)
Jack Palance as Carl Grissom, but in Falcone's role in the plot. Problem is, can he do the influence of Scarecrow's fear toxin outside the special effects scenes and make them believable?
Christopher Lee as Henri Ducard
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita as "Ra's al Ghul"
Ben Kingsley or Mako as the Man Bruce Sees Thrice [I.E. The real Ra's al Ghul]
Robert Englund as Johnathan Crane/Scarecrow
Dave Coulier or Dom DeLouise as an '80s version of Movie Detective Flass, or Peter Scolari as a version closer to the comics.
Ally Sheedy as Rachel Dawes
Morgan Freeman wil already work as Lucius Fox, but if they insist on someone looking like his 2005 age, I suggest Redd Foxx.
Jim Brown as Commissioner Loeb
Question 1: Can Michael Gough manage the gravitas Michael Caine gave to the Alfred of The Dark Knight Saga, or will we have to go with someone like Edward Woodward or Sean Connery?
Question 2: Pat Hingle was 65 in 1989. He can't really play the Sgt. Gordon of Batman Begins. How about Tom Sellick, Timothy Daily, or Jeffery Jones?
Christopher Lee as Henri Ducard
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita as "Ra's al Ghul"
Ben Kingsley or Mako as the Man Bruce Sees Thrice [I.E. The real Ra's al Ghul]
Robert Englund as Johnathan Crane/Scarecrow
Dave Coulier or Dom DeLouise as an '80s version of Movie Detective Flass, or Peter Scolari as a version closer to the comics.
Ally Sheedy as Rachel Dawes
Morgan Freeman wil already work as Lucius Fox, but if they insist on someone looking like his 2005 age, I suggest Redd Foxx.
Jim Brown as Commissioner Loeb
Question 1: Can Michael Gough manage the gravitas Michael Caine gave to the Alfred of The Dark Knight Saga, or will we have to go with someone like Edward Woodward or Sean Connery?
Question 2: Pat Hingle was 65 in 1989. He can't really play the Sgt. Gordon of Batman Begins. How about Tom Sellick, Timothy Daily, or Jeffery Jones?
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It plays in the opening bank robbery scene of the Dark Knight lol.
The beauty of the Batman Begins script is that with a few adjustments, (Specifically having Ducard mention on the train sequence that he's "Not Ra's al Ghul either," and flashing back to the man Bruce saw in prison, walking into the compound the next day, and leaving Ducard with him after the fire, omiting the Joker cards from Gordon's speech about escalation, and introducing Jack Napier as Grissom's right-hand man without him doing much in the movie except showing up), you can use the actual Batman '89 script for the direct sequel, so long as you throw in a Vicki Vale-Bruce Wayne-Rachel Dawes-Billy Dee Williams Harvey Dent love square. For the Sequel Hook to that movie, have Dent wake up in the hospital with Rachel dead, blaming Batman for what happened, while a poster shows the Haley Circus coming featuring the Flying Graysons coming to town in a few months.
The third movie features the villains of Batman Forever, but with a rather darker tone. Harvey is a deranged serial killer using the toss of the coin to dertmine the final fate of his (asshole) victims. Also on the streets is a vengeful downsized toymaker named Edward Nygma who locks other (asshole) victims in trick question deathtraps a-la-Jigsaw from the Saw series, and finances his activities with heists where he leaves obscure clues and puzzles to taunt the police. One of those robberies causes the death of most of the Flying Graysons, leading its youngest and only survivor to hunt down the killer, and end up in over his head. It ends with Harvey dead, Batman and Robin taking the fall, the Bat Signals being smashed, and Batman going underground.
The fourth movie features Dick Grayson off to college, the rise of a new underworld boss called "Black Mask" with the help of an assassin named Deadshot (or maybe Deathstroke) with ties to the League of Shadows, plus this annoying cat burglar/marital artist named Selina Kyle, and these two kids, one of them the daughter of Commissioner Gordon, who've discovered Bruce's secret identity as Batman. Then all hell breaks loose when Gotham Stadium looses its field and the real Ra's al Ghul reveals himself threatening Gotham with a nuclear weapon...
The third movie features the villains of Batman Forever, but with a rather darker tone. Harvey is a deranged serial killer using the toss of the coin to dertmine the final fate of his (asshole) victims. Also on the streets is a vengeful downsized toymaker named Edward Nygma who locks other (asshole) victims in trick question deathtraps a-la-Jigsaw from the Saw series, and finances his activities with heists where he leaves obscure clues and puzzles to taunt the police. One of those robberies causes the death of most of the Flying Graysons, leading its youngest and only survivor to hunt down the killer, and end up in over his head. It ends with Harvey dead, Batman and Robin taking the fall, the Bat Signals being smashed, and Batman going underground.
The fourth movie features Dick Grayson off to college, the rise of a new underworld boss called "Black Mask" with the help of an assassin named Deadshot (or maybe Deathstroke) with ties to the League of Shadows, plus this annoying cat burglar/marital artist named Selina Kyle, and these two kids, one of them the daughter of Commissioner Gordon, who've discovered Bruce's secret identity as Batman. Then all hell breaks loose when Gotham Stadium looses its field and the real Ra's al Ghul reveals himself threatening Gotham with a nuclear weapon...
PoeFacedKilla
Banned
yeah when i saw batman begins in theatres i thought it was a prequel to the original batman;
it really could act as one
Don't get my wrong, I love Batman Begins, but with the problems behind the scenes getting Tim Burton version in the OTL, it would be unlikley to have the first batman film not feature the Joker. Remember that the Studio wanted the film to be as camp as the TV show. It unlikley that the studio would invest in a Batman film that only features two unknown villians.
Scarecrow debuted in the Golden Age, and was better represented in the likes of Superfriends better than any Bat-Villain except Joker and Riddler. Ra's al Ghul was the villain with which Denny O'Neal finally set a tone closer to the Kane/Finger era after a decade and-a half of jaunts to the moon in his own book, Bat Shark Repellant, and the Batusi.
If you the execs want to blame someone, they need to blame Hugh Hefner and Mort Weisinger.
For those that keep pointing to Johnny Depp as the Scarecrow, he was still a bit of an unknown at this point. He was just some actor with a decent show on the newly minted Fox network as far as the rest of the world is concerned. 1989 is before Edward Scissorhands, Benny and Joon, Gilbert Grape etc... He is not going to get cast as a major villian in what's being considered the first big super hero movie in a deacde. Also, his shooting schedule on 21 Jumpstreet may exclude him from making Batman.
Torqumada
Stolengood
Banned
A funny coincidence: Remember Max Schreck from Batman Returns? He was originally going to be Billy Dee Williams reprising his role as Harvey Dent, was going to much less overtly-villainous, and the "electric kiss" Catwoman gives him at the end of the film wasn't going to leave him dead, but scarred; transformed into... Two-Face.
Just thought it'd be interesting to bring up, and to take into consideration as a plot point.
Just thought it'd be interesting to bring up, and to take into consideration as a plot point.
I just watched Batman Returns the other day and probably 100 times before but never made that Nosferatu connection. I feel ashamed I am sorry ghost of Murnau.
Can I recommend not staffing it full of famous/known actors. Look how that generation of Batman degenerated with all those 'stars'. Some known quantities will be okay, but not too many. Nicholson made for a good Gangster version of the Joker though, maybe he can be one of the mob leaders, since he's so good at being a bad guy.