Joker movie released in 2019 went on to win the Oscars on the back of remarkable acting done by Joaquin Phoenix who played the role of Joker in the movie. However, did you know that Joaquin was about to play the role of Batman but got rejected and he ended up playing the Joker? As it is said, everything happens for good, and we are glad that Joaquin didn’t play Batman else we would have missed a performance worth winning Academy Award.
As per the reports, Darren Aronofsky was chosen as the director of Batman and he wanted Joaquin Phoenix to play the character way back in the nineties. However, the studio was against the Joaquin Phoenix and wanted Freddie Prinze Jr. in the lead role. The movie never kicked off and later on Christopher Nolan was chosen to direct the movie that further changed the dynamics of how Batman is gonna appear, the storyline, cast, and plot.
“The studio wanted Freddie Prinze Jr. and I wanted Joaquin Phoenix. It was a different time. The Batman I wrote was definitely a way different type of take than they ended up making,” said Aronofsky. After seeing the Batman movie directed by Nolan, Aronofsky said that the new movie is a lot different than what he had imagined.
He recalled that his version of Batman was heavily inspired by Frank Miller’s graphic novel, Batman: Year One. Miller was, in fact, writing the script himself. “It was an amazing thing because I was a big fan of his graphic novel work, so just getting to meet him was exciting back then.”
Apparently, he was also in line to play the role of Dr. Strange, a famous neurosurgeon who loses the ability to use his hands. He goes to visit the mysterious Ancient One to heal himself and becomes a great sorcerer under her tutelage. However, the franchise went ahead with Benedict Cumberbatch to play the role and the movie got released in 2016.
In the end, Joaquin Phoenix went ahead with Todd Phillips’ Joker in 2019 and became the talk of the town. The movie amassed global success and collected a worldwide total of $1.074 billion. The movie won the Oscar award for the best movie and Joaquin Phoenix won the best actor award in 2020.
