A large number of actors have played Batman over the years, and thanks to the expanding multiverse of the DCEU, it seems like a lot more are about to. Beyond the actors who actually portrayed the Dark Knight, dozens more almost played the role in any one of the versions of the character that have been brought to the screen over the years.
The same is true of the Joker. Fewer actors - until recently at least - have had a chance to play the part. Many almost did, leaving fans with a lot of what if's.
Batman (Kurt Russell)
This one kind of stings. It's easy to see Kurt Russell in the role of Bruce Wayne and Batman. He likely would have fit into just about any version of the franchise from the serious Nolan films to the campy Joel Schumacher era. Schumacher is where Russell got his chance. After Val Kilmer left the role, a new Batman was needed again for Batman And Robin. Russell ultimately didn't take the role and it went to George Clooney. It was probably a good idea Russell took a pass.
Joker (Paul Bettany)
It's difficult to imagine anyone else playing the Joker in The Dark Knight, but Heath Ledger was not always a lock for the role. Early on in development for the film, director Christopher Nolan considered many actors. Paul Bettany was high on the list. The English actor is famous for playing Vision in the MCU and is about to provide a very bonkers take on the character in WandaVision. It's not clear why he didn't end up in the role, but there are always more Joker movies.
Batman (Ethan Hawke)
Michael Keaton turned down a chance to play Batman a third time (well, for a while anyway) and that opened the door to someone new. Val Kilmer ended up donning the cape in Batman Forever, but Ethan Hawke actually turned down the part. The actor, known for his wide and varying career, worried he would be typecast if he played the part. He ultimately regretted it, saying in a later interview that playing the role would have opened a lot of doors for him in his career.
Joker (Robin Williams)
Looking back it only seems natural that Robin Williams would have been considered for the Joker. In retrospect it's odd he never played him. Williams was considered for the role in the 1989 Batman film directed by Tim Burton. That part famously went to Jack Nicholson. Shockingly, Williams was turned down for the role (and The Riddler) by three different directors.
Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, and Christopher Nolan all passed over the legendary actor for others. Feels like a huge missed opportunity.
Batman (Cillian Murphy)
Christopher Nolan sought a different kind of Bruce Wayne and Batman when he started work on Batman Begins. His search eventually led him to Christian Bale but also up for consideration was actor Cillian Murphy. Murphy didn't get the part obviously (thanks in part to a Batsuit issue) but did impress Nolan enough to be cast as the villain Scarecrow, who is one of the few Batman screen villains not to die. Murphy reprised the role in both sequels to the movie and continued to work with the director in his subsequent movies like Inception.
Joker (David Bowie)
One of the most intriguing what if's regarding the Joker has to be David Bowie. The chameleon-like singer and actor doesn't seem an obvious choice for the role but he would have brought an alien quality to it that certainly would have been unique. Screenwriter Sam Hamm wanted the icon for the part in the 1989 movie, thinking he was perfect for it. Tim Burton ultimately wanted something a little more broad and campy and Bowie never became a real possibility.
Batman (Josh Brolin)
When Zack Snyder decided that the Dark Knight was going to play a big role in the sequel to Man of Steel, one of the director's best movies, he immediately began searching for a new Bruce Wayne. One of the first actors he met with for the part was Josh Brolin. Brolin fits the bill in a lot of ways and would have made for an excellent Bruce Wayne/Batman (though a little more on the gruff side). He proved his comic book chops by being one of the greatest movie villains of the last decade.
Joker (Willem Dafoe)
Another actor that writer Sam Hamm thought would be perfect for the Joker in the 1989 Tim Burton film was Willem Dafoe. He believed the actor had the right physical quality for the role. Dafoe ultimately lost out to Jack Nicholson but it's easy to see him in the part.
Dafoe went on to play another major comic book villain. He played Green Goblin in the 2002 Spider-Man movie. The costume maybe didn't work but a lot of the film did.
Batman (Alec Baldwin)
When Michael Keaton declined the opportunity to come back for the proposed third Tim Burton Batman film in the early '90s, Warner Bros. searched high and low for a replacement. Alec Baldwin had been in consideration for the role before the '89 movie and ultimately decided against joining the franchise when the chance came around again. Part of the reason might have been that after he missed out on the original Batman movie he went on to play The Shadow. That movie didn't do well.
Joker (Ryan Gosling)
Heath Ledger posthumously won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight and made it hard to imagine someone else in that role. That was the challenge for the actor playing the villain in the 2016 movie Suicide Squad. Jared Leto won the privilege, but perhaps only after Ryan Gosling turned it down. Gosling has never confirmed the reports but it would have been an interesting take on the character for sure (possibly he could step in for the Leto version).