Here's how U2's lead singer Bono almost appeared in Batman Forever as his stage persona MacPhisto. After 1992's weird, wild Batman Returns failed to live up to the unprecedented success of Tim Burton's original Batman, Warner Bros. and Burton mutually agreed the director would not return to helm the third movie. The studio wanted something more mainstream and family-oriented than the dark, borderline nightmarish Batman Returns moving forward.
Enter Joel Schumacher. The director, who had logged hits like The Lost Boys and Falling Down, was brought in to take Batman in an entirely new direction. The resulting film was Batman Forever, a neon-drenched, tongue in cheek adventure that reset the tone of the franchise in a major way. Val Kilmer took over the title role from Michael Keaton, while the film co-starred Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey.
At the same time Batman was enjoying a mainstream comeback during the 1990s, so were U2. The Irish rock band were known for their somewhat stone-faced earnestness but were indulging in their experimental, ironic phase by this era, resulting in the group making some of the most interesting music of their careers. Frontman Bono had even taken to adopting stage personas; one of them was MacPhisto, a washed up pop star in a gold suit and devil horns who looked a little like the Joker. Schumacher was a fan of the band and actually inquired with Bono about appearing in Batman Forever in a party scene, dressed in his full MacPhisto getup.
Bono was intrigued by the idea, but he ultimately declined, as he didn't consider himself an actor and feared diluting the stage persona. U2 instead provided the lead single to the film's soundtrack, the blistering "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me." The video for that song features an animated MacPhisto menacing Gotham City with an orchestra whose members are all dressed as Batman. The whole thing is a bit goofy, but that was the tone Batman Forever was going for.
Batman Forever was a massive success for Warner Bros. and exactly the kind of hit they were looking for - one that not only sold movie tickets but moved a lot of toys and Happy Meals too. Their luck would run out with Schumacher's follow-up, Batman & Robin, which took the campy self-awareness to a whole new level, ending up a box office and critical disaster. Bono's next run-in with the world of superheroes would be equally disastrous, as he co-wrote and produced the legendarily ill-fated Spider-Man musical. Perhaps it's best if some artists simply avoid the world of superheroes altogether.