Actor Michael Biehn is known for having been a major collaborator with James Cameron during the director’s early career. He starred as Kyle Reese in The Terminator, Dwayne Hicks in Aliens, and Hiram Coffey in The Abyss. However, Michael Biehn now reveals he nearly teamed up with another major director – Tim Burton – for the 1989 movie Batman.
It’s no secret that Michael Keaton played Bruce Wayne aka Batman in Tim Burton’s adaptation of the iconic comic book character, a role he reprised for Tim Burton‘s sequel Batman Returns. Keaton immediately became synonymous with the character, and while there have been numerous other actors in the years since, his popularity has never waned. In fact, Keaton returned as Batman in the 2023 movie The Flash and he became one of the highlights of the film.
Now, while speaking on the podcast Just Foolin’ Around, via Fiction Horizon, Biehn reveals that it almost could’ve been him as Batman all these years later. According to the actor, who has also starred in the likes of Planet Terror and an episode of The Mandalorian, Biehn met with Burton several times to acquire the role.
“I went in and met Tim Burton, over at Warner Brothers, and back in those days they were just meetings. They weren’t auditions. I would just go in and meet. But I was very good at […] telling people how good I was going to be in this role and how I was going to play it,” Biehn began.
“And I was going to do this and I was going to do that, and sometimes some of the dialogue would slip in ya know. I’ve done that many many times. So I did that with Tim Burton. Tim Burton I guess liked me quite a bit. […] This was for Batman, this was for the original Batman.”
According to Biehn, and as we all know, Burton ultimately chose Michael Keaton for the part. However, Biehn adds that he was part of a pairing that included Robin Williams as The Joker while Nicholson’s Joker was included with Keaton.
“So Tim Burton, had me in again and it was an important enough meeting that Lamato [Biehn’s agent] came with me. Ed Lamato came over there with me at Warner Brothers. We sat and we talked to Tim Burton for about an hour, and of course, he ended up casting Michael Keaton in that role and Jack Nicholson,” Biehn continues.
“But Lamato told me that he had two choices and it was either that choice or me and Robin Williams. Robin Williams [would] play the Joker. And that he [Burton] was making up his mind about that.”
Ultimately, however, Biehn doesn’t have any hard feelings about losing the part. In fact, he reveals to have never really cared about Batman. Though he does praise Matt Reeves’ version, calling The Batman “extremely well done.”
“I didn’t know who Tim Burton was,” Biehn explains. “I didn’t fucking […] Batman, I didn’t care. You know, I just went on to the next thing. It seems like everybody who’s ever played Batman has always bitched and moaned and groaned about how fucking difficult it was to play Batman and the suit and the whole thing.
“Although THE Batman you know the movie THE Batman, did you see it? I fucking love that movie. I thought that was extremely extremely well done, I like that one a lot.”
It’s definitely a surprise to learn that Biehn not only met with Burton for the role, but nearly won the part alongside Robin Williams as The Joker. It certainly would have been a much different movie than the one we got, and truthfully, that might not have been a bad thing.
In any case, Michael Biehn didn’t have any trouble succeeding without Batman, and he’s set to make a return to the big screen with the upcoming film Onslaught from director Adam Wingard. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional Michael Biehn news as we have it.