"Joker" star Phoenix had the opportunity to play Batman, but unfortunately Warner Bros. and the director broke up

Joaquin Phoenix won the highest honor of the Oscar for Best Actor last year for his crazy performance in the DC Joker personal movie, and also engraved a brand new image of the Joker in the minds of movie fans all over the world. However, interestingly, according to the latest interview of Empire magazine, Joaquin had the opportunity to star in the rival Batman movie in the early 21st century, but unfortunately it did not come true due to the disagreement between the director and Warner.

In the early 21st century, Warner Bros. approached Darren Aronofsky, the director of Black Swan, hoping that he would be in charge of a new Batman series. The famous director revealed in an interview that Warner Bros. wanted Freddie Prinze Jr. to star in the film, but his personal choice was Joaquin Phoenix. The disagreement over casting led to the project falling through, and Warner Bros. eventually hired Nolan as director to create the world-renowned Batman trilogy.

Aronofsky recalled: "This is a true story that happened in a different era. And the Batman I wrote is definitely a different type of movie from the one Warner Bros. eventually made." According to Empire, the Batman that Aronofsky wanted to shoot, starring Joaquin, would include tributes to classic movies such as The Raptors, The French Connection, and Taxi Driver. And he wanted to subvert the inherent view of Batman at the time and reshape the entire series.

Uncle Phoenix in his youth:

Twenty years ago, Joaquin Phoenix was in his prime. If he had really played DC Batman, he would surely have charmed many fans.