Batman: DarKnight

***Batman: DarKnight*** is the name of a screenplay by Lee Shapiro and Stephen Wise. After the *Batman Unchained* script was discarded, new writers were hired to come up with an entirely different story also featuring the Scarecrow. The project was going to be made by Warner Brothers executive Greg Silverman without the involvement from Joel Schumacher after *Batman & Robin* was almost universally panned by critics and audiences.

## Plot

Bruce Wayne is in self-imposed seclusion from life, because he feels he has lost his greatest weapons in the fight against crime: his mystique and his enemies' fear. Dick Grayson attends Gotham University, trying to discover who he is apart from his guardian and unwilling to return as Robin without him. Meanwhile, Dr. Jonathan Crane uses his position as professor of psychology at Gotham University and as resident psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum to conduct his experiments in fear. During a vengeful confrontation with a colleague, Dr. Kirk Langstrom, Jonathan Crane unknowingly initiates Kirk's transformation into the creature known as Man-Bat. The unsuspecting denizens of Gotham scream for Batman's head, believing that Man-Bat's nightly hunts is the Dark Knight's bloodthirsty return to action. Bruce dons cape and cowl once more to clear his name and solve the mystery behind these attacks. Eventually, Dick ends up in Arkham Asylum under Crane's unsympathetic watch, and Kirk struggles with his "man vs. monster" syndrome as he longs to both reunite with his wife and get revenge on Crane.

At the end of the script Batman gives Commissioner Gordon a red cell phone, letting him know he's back on duty. As Batman's cape flutters in the wind a crow flies by him and lands by the window of Tetch's Clothing Shop, the silhouette of a man with a tophat can be seen.

## Cast

* George Clooney as Bruce Wayne/Batman (refused to return)
* Chris O’Donnell as Dick Grayson/Robin
* Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow (role offered)
* Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth
* Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon

## Why It Was Cancelled

1. *Batman & Robin* was panned by critics, fans and audiences.
2. *Batman & Robin* flopped at the box office.
3. Warner Brothers was willing to wipe the slate clean following the disastrous performance of *Batman & Robin* rather than continuing to push the same continuity with the turn of the Millenium on the horizon.
4. Warner Brothers put all future live-action *Batman* movies on hold until a new script was written and decided to focus more on making more animated direct-to-video and direct-to-DVD *Batman* movies as well as the 2001 series *Justice League*, which featured Batman as one of the major characters in the series.
5. Warner Brothers became interested in doing a larger scale version of Frank Miller's *Year One*, and hired director Darren Aronofsky based on his pitch.
6. A *Batman Beyond* movie was also in development (which that movie also was cancelled).
7. George Clooney refused to return as Batman.

## Result

* The studio stayed interested in doing a larger scale version of Frank Miller's *Year One*, which eventually resulted in *Batman Begins*.

## Trivia

* The movie was supposed to take place during Halloween and have more dark themes than the previous *Batman* films had.

## External links

* Batman: DarKnight on Batman Wikia
* Before 'Batman Begins': Secret History of the Movies That Almost Got Made