Batman & Robin Tim Burton-style!
Would a darker Batman & Robin directed by Tim Burton work?
Batman & Robin is one of the worst superhero movies ever made, no question. I mean it pretty much killed Batman films and superhero movies as a whole for years. And when Batman returned with the Christopher Nolan trilogy of films, it was a much darker more somber affair (but great movies).
Now, Batman & Robin may never have happened if Batman Forever didn’t do well. But it was well-received at the time and did well at the box office. So much so that a 5th movie, tentatively titled Batman Triumphant, was in the works before the George Clooney’s Batman sunk any future prospects of another Joel Schumacher-helmed Batman film. We were spared that at least.
But Michael Keaton backed off of Batman Forever because he knew it would suck after meeting with Schumacher. He was only one movie off though. What if the first attempt by Joel Schumacher had failed terribly? Would Warner Bros. simply have shuttered any planned sequels sooner, or would they give it one more go? Possibly bringing back Tim Burton for the follow-up?
That’s the idea behind this fan trailer, which takes Batman & Robin and turns it into a much darker style of film. It also replaces Arnold Schwarzenegger with Michael C. Hall as Mr. Freeze. Not in film, but in the voiceover for the trailer. Sam Ibrahim, who made the trailer, explains that he made a lot more sense to Ibrahim in that role:
"I just imagine his tone of voice from Dexter saying some of Freeze’s lines and it made so much sense to me. Ultimately I wanted to prove George Clooney was a good Batman, and like Ben Affleck doing Daredevil, it wasn’t his fault. The acting was great, it was the other elements."
Check out Ibrahim’s Burton-esque trailer for Batman & Robin below:
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I actually don’t think the acting was great in the film, but that was the least of my problems with it. Would Tim Burton have made a better film than Joel Schumacher given roughly the same premise? Maybe? Burton’s body of work the last 20 or so years has been very spotty at best. We’ll just never know, but it’s something to consider…