You read that headline? Don’t worry, Cillian Murphy’s role is still secure. No, this is actually referring to the previous installments of the Batman films that were originally helmed by Tim Burton and then handed over to Joel Schumacher. It seems that Schumacher is more than aware that he dropped the ball and actually revealed plans for another Batman movie that would feature appearances by Jack Nicholson’s Joker.
Source: Worst Previews
“Batman Triumphant,” which was going to revolve around Batman and Robin battling the Scarecrow. In the story, the villain would have used “fear toxins” forcing Batman to see his former enemies, including the Joker, the role Jack Nicholson was planning to reprise. But who was going to play Scarecrow?
“I was supposed to do a fifth one,” said Schumacher. “I was talking to Nic Cage about playing the Scarecrow. I had begged the studio for [the Frank Miller comic] ‘The Dark Knight [Returns],’ but they wanted a family friendly, toyetic thing.”
Eventually “Batman and Robin” hit theaters and Warner Bros immediately ended their relationship with Schumacher and killed “Batman Triumphant.”
I had always wanted to see more of Nicholson’s Joker, but I’m not at all convinced that those were the proper circumstances. I definitely would have been interested to find out how Cage would have portrayed the Joker at the time but I wouldn’t have wanted to see him as Campy as all the other Schumacher bad guys. Seriously, the scripts took a nose dive once Sam Hamm stopped writing the stories.
