A persistent rumor has claimed a young Christian Bale auditioned to play Batman Forever's Robin, but is there any truth to this? Tim Burton was originally attached to helm Batman Forever, but he quickly sensed that studio Warner Bros wanted to take the series in another direction. Batman Returns was a dark, gothic fairytale that raised some controversy among parents over its suitability for younger viewers. Burton soon exited the project, with The Lost Boys' director Joel Schumacher brought on to lighten up the sequel.
Schumacher's version of Batman Forever also caused Michael Keaton to exit the project. After being cut out of the first two Batman movies - including a scripted and storyboarded Batman '89 scene - Robin finally made his introduction in Batman Forever. Chris O'Donnell landed the part, but many young actors circled the character. Leonardo DiCaprio met with Schumacher about the sequel but passed on auditioning, while Matt Damon, Ewan McGregor, Alan Cumming and many more tested for it.
Batman Forever was a runaway success, though the blockbuster sequel hasn't aged well. Schumacher's follow-up Batman & Robin is considered one of the worst movies ever made and stalled the series until Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins brought it back. Christian Bale played Batman/Bruce Wayne in this outing and its two sequels and while Bale proclaimed that Robin would never be introduced in his Batman movies while he had any say, a version of the character did appear in the form of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Blake. A rumor also claims Christian Bale himself auditioned for Batman Forever's Robin, but the actor has debunked this.
Bale would have been around 20 years old when Batman Forever was auditioning for the part, with Chris O'Donnell also being in his early 20s when he was cast. The timeline makes sense, which might be one reason Christian Bale is linked to Batman Forever's Robin, but according to the star (via CBR), not only did he not audition, he wouldn't have even considered doing so. When asked if he had read for the role, Bale denied this persistent rumor and stated "But I do have to take a stand on that because I would never have bloody auditioned to play Robin," following up with "It wasn’t a lucky escape because I would never have got myself in that position in the first place."
Even if Christian Bale had auditioned to play Batman Forever's - which has many deleted scenes - Robin, it's doubtful he would have wanted the part. It's unlikely Schumacher's overblown, theatrical style would have appealed to Bale, and while he may have brought more depth to the part, it doesn't sound like a good fit. Oddly enough, Batman Forever did have a small impact on Christian Bale's time with the role. When screen testing for Batman Begins, both he and Cillian Murphy - who eventually played Scarecrow - wore Val Kilmer's Batman Forever costume.
