Charlie Sheen celebrated his last great success with the series Two and a Half Men, i.e. in the comedy area. At the beginning of his career, the scion of an acting family could also be seen in numerous serious roles. At the time, he was even being considered for the role of the Dark Knight. Imagine that: Charlie Sheen as Batman!
Charlie Sheen faced stiff competition in the Batman casting
There aren’t many details about the extent of Sheen’s bid to star in Batman. But the list of Hollywood stars that the Warner Bros. studio considered makes you sit up and take notice. There would be (via Cinefantastique, Flickering Myth):
Magnum actor Tom Selleck and Lethal Weapon star Mel Gibson were among the long ones at different times Planning Batman among the favorites in this illustrious selection. In the end, a suggestion from producer Jon Peters prevailed: Michael Keaton.
Check out the trailer for Batman:
Batman – Trailer (German)
The cast didn’t sit well at first, at least with DC fans who couldn’t picture comedy actor Keaton as the Dark Knight. One Campaign with letters, protests and petitions wanted to prevent his use, as the Wall Street Journal reported at the time. The studio and Tim Burton were undeterred. The rest is Batman history.
Instead of becoming a DC hero, the future TAAHM actor became a comedy pro
As Charlie Sheen’s post-Batman career would have looked like is left to our imagination. The star turned to comedy projects after dramatic roles in Platoon and Wall Street, such as the Batman year 1989 in The Indians of Cleveland.
We’re lucky things didn’t work out with Sheen and DC, otherwise he might never have Hot Shots! – The mother of all films made. And that would have been a tremendous loss for film history.
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