Pierce Brosnan met with Tim Burton for the lead in 1989’s Batman

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Before he became a debonair, well-dressed gentleman with an affinity for gadgets and kicking the asses of supervillains, Pierce Brosnan almost played a debonair, well-dressed gentleman with an affinity for gadgets and kicking the asses of supervillains. In his recent Reddit AMA, Brosnan was asked by a fan if he was ever considered for the role of Batman. Brosnan’s answer was an absolute yes.

Yes, I did. I went and met with Tim Burton for the role of Batman. But I just couldn’t really take it seriously, any man who wears his underpants outside his pants just cannot be taken seriously. That was my foolish take on it. It was a joke, I thought. But how wrong was I?

Brosnan certainly sounds like he regretted the decision to pass on what would become an iconic performance from Michael Keaton and kick off a three decade debate on who the best Dark Knight has been. Brosnan would obviously go on to make a lasting impression as James Bond, but it does make you wonder just how different BATMAN would have been with Brosnan in the lead.

Before you say that Brosnan’s comments show that he is out of touch with what BATMAN was all about, he did provide this comment as well.

Don’t get me wrong, because I love Batman, and I grew up on Batman. As a kid in Ireland, we used to get our raincoats and tie them round our neck and swing through the bicycle shed.

In 1989, Brosnan was just past his most successful role to date, the television series REMINGTON STEELE and was still six years away from GOLDENEYE. Everyone likened his small screen character to 007, but he easily could have been Bruce Wayne at that time. While I would never change the final film we got, this is definitely an interesting what if scenario.