MovieChat Forums > Batman (1989) Discussion > What if Jack Nicholson wasn't cast as th...

What if Jack Nicholson wasn't cast as the Joker?

posted 4 years ago by TMC-4 (19559)
17 replies | jump to latest

Somebody commented on AV Club that Jack Nicholson definitely shined a spotlight on the film and piqued general public interest in it in a way that maybe a less famous actor (like say John Lithgow or Tim Curry) probably wouldn’t have done. Nicholson would have been the difference between getting it on the cover of People Magazine before release instead of just in it, or leading off Entertainment Tonight instead of just a later segment.

https://film.avclub.com/1844175827

More importantly, getting a major star like Nicholson probably made the studio more open to letting a young wunderkind director like Tim Burton spend pallets of cash to make something truly new and original.

[–] ThrillerTalk (1118) 3 years ago

I think it would have been interesting if they had put Jack Nicholson in the role of Harvey Dent and have Robin Williams go ahead and be the Joker there. Jack had a pretty good look that could have worked for Dent compared to the classic animated versions of the character, and if being that he's such a big name and all he would have been a good Two Face too if they'd continued his story either right away or a little later. Of course that also depends on if Jack signs on to do more than 1 Batman movie. Thankfully Billy Dee Williams didn't.

[–] HarlemEagle42 (16630) 2 years ago

John Lithgow could had done it.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7502) 2 years ago

With him playing Beetlejuice just before this movie, it would have been neat to see Michael Keaton play Joker.