When director Wolfgang Petersen was gearing up to make Batman Vs Superman in the early 2000s, Christian Bale was his top choice for Superman. The titular comic heroes finally clashed on the big screen in 2016's Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Zack Snyder's superhero brawl was almost beaten to the screen by the late, great Peterman, who was set to helm the canceled Batman Vs Superman: Asylum. This saw Batman come out of retirement to seek revenge on the Joker and Lex Luthor for his wife's murder. His best friend just happens to be Clark Kent/Superman, but when he tries to oppose Batman's mission, they come to blows.
This Batman Vs Superman script came very close to production but was canceled when then Warner Bros head Alan Horn felt a solo Superman script by J.J. Abrams was the better option. In 2010, Peterman revealed to MTV that he met with Christian Bale about playing Superman in his movie. Considering the actor has seemingly never brought up his conversations about Petersen's Batman Vs Superman in interviews, it's unclear how interested he actually was in the role. Bale would, of course, later sign on for Nolan's Batman Begins, which felt like a better fit for his screen persona. That said, imagining his take on Asylum's wearier Superman is quite intriguing.
Batman Vs Superman's Other Casting Choices
Batman Vs Superman: Asylum had been gearing up for a planned 2004 release, but WB got cold feet as it neared production. Bale was one of Petersen's top candidates for Superman but the filmmaker admits in the same MTV interview to also meeting with Josh Hartnett. It appears Bale and Hartnett were in the same casting pools for superhero projects during this time, as the latter was also very close to nabbing the title role in Batman Begins. According to co-writer Akiva Goldsman in a 2020 conversation with Collider, the crossover was "...the darkest thing you've ever seen" and he also claimed two other major names were cast.
According to Goldman, Colin Farrell was set to play Batman, while Jude Law was playing Superman. Farrell was an emerging star during this time, but hadn't quite broken through; he would later play The Penguin in Matt Reeves' reboot The Batman. Law was also in the running to play Superman again for the canceled Flyby script but rejected it, as he told Stephen Colbert that despite trying on the suit, he just couldn't picture himself in the part. Johnny Depp's name was also linked to Batman Vs Superman, though for which role is unknown.
Bale Made The Right Superhero Choice
Following American Psycho, Bale was on the cusp of movie stardom. However, his follow-ups like Reign Of Fire or Equilibrium failed to connect. Looking back on this period, he was not only approached to play Superman in Petersen's Batman Vs Superman, but the Caped Crusader in Darren Aronofsky's unmade Batman: Year One. With Batman Begins - and more importantly, choosing to work with Christopher Nolan - Bale made the perfect choice. The Dark Knight movie trilogy would help reshape comic book movies, bringing a more human side to the genre, while establishing himself as a major star.
