While Michelle Pfeiffer’s role as Catwoman in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns is seen as both one of the best iterations of the character on screen and one of the actresses best loved roles, which raised her profile as a 90s sex symbol, it appears that she was almost cast in a different role in Tim Burton’s first Dark Knight release, 1989’s Batman. While it is hard to imagine anyone else talking the role of Catwoman in the sequel, which saw Danny DeVito playing the Penquin and Michael Keaton donning the Batsuit for what seemed until recently to have been the final time, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Batman executive producer Michael Uslan and actor Robert Wuhl discussed the making of the iconic movie and revealed that Pfeiffer was one of the names in the running to play Vicki Vale in the original movie.
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The role of Bruce Wayne’s love interest in Batman eventually went to Kim Basinger, but before that bit of casting happened, the role of Vale was originally given to Sean Young. Young had already been cast when production was due to start, but was forced to take time out from acting due to a horse riding accident, which it appears was “a blessing in disguide” for some Warner Bros. execs who were more than happy to replace her. . According to Uslan, Pfeiffer was next in line for the part, but there was an issue getting in the way.
“To put a little fly in the ointment, Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer had previously dated and broken up,” says Wuhl. “At the time, Michael told me he was trying to get back with his ex-wife. Keaton was firmly, and underline firmly, against that casting of Pfeiffer and he and Peters got into it.”
As it turned out, the decision to cast Kim Basinger came with universal approval from the Warner Bros. chiefs and it seemed to work out well enough in the final movie with the star bringing a certain amount of style to the role. Speaking in the same interview, Basinger recalled having her own ideas for the character, which led to some rewrites compared to the planned role for Young.
“I love collaboration and I feel that if you’ve got an idea, bring it on the table. And if I’m wrong who cares.” says Basinger. “Tim was really great when I would write a scene or came to him with an idea we would explore it.”
When it comes to Pfeiffer, she would finally get her Batman debut in Batman Returns, although even then she was not the first choice to play Catwoman and only managed to nab the role when original star Annette Benning had to withdraw from the film due to being pregnant. While Keaton had come around to working with Pfeiffer again by the time his second Batman movie rolled around, it is almost as though Pfeiffer was just meant to play Catwoman, and circumstances certainly dictated that it would happen.
While Pfeiffer is now appearing in the MCU as part of the Ant-Man series of movies, Michael Keaton is about to suit up as Batman for the first time in 30 years for The Flash movie which will be arriving in cinemas next year.
