When pre-production was in full swing on Tim Burton’s original Batman, Warner Bros.
knew exactly who they wanted for the pivotal role of the Joker.
Not many things were certain on the set of Tim Burton’s accidental masterpiece; the fact the 1989 film would define multiple generations of comic book movies is a retroactive feat no one at the time could have known (unless they had a secret Bat-time Machine).
Michael Keaton’s gothic antihero needed his arch-nemesis for a good story, yes.
Still, studio executives allegedly wanted a bankable co-star to guarantee box office gold and balance out Keaton’s relative lack of experience.
The brass’ mindset was essentially “go big or go home,” and they went after a big actor with gusto: Jack Nicholson.
The problem was, their actor of choice wasn’t interested.
Persuading Nicholson to don the clown makeup took effort on Warner Bros.’ part, and possibly some less-than-wholesome negotiation tactics.
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