Schumacher's Lost Batman Movie Plans Become Reality In Every Way

Joel Schumacher never got the chance to make a third Batman movie, but his ideas found their way into other DC movies, shows, and video games.

Joel Schumacher never got a chance to make his proposed third Batman movie, Batman Unchained, but many of the ideas for the project were picked up in other Batman movies and TV shows. reflected. Canceled after the overwhelmingly negative reaction to Batman & Robin, the film will attempt to tie all four Burton and Schumacher Batman films together and provide a definitive closure to the saga. While Batman Unchained never made it into production, some of its ideas popped up elsewhere to great effect.

Batman and Batman-related media remain the most popular segment of the superhero genre on both the big and small screens. While Schumacher's Batman movies aren't as beloved as Burton's Batman, or even the campy Adam West project of the 1960s, Schumacher's Batman movies may be better than one might think because they inspired After the creator and the inspiration for the project. From novel character relationships to specific villainous plots, many clues can be drawn from other movies, shows, and video games related to Schumacher's canceled third Batman movie.

5/5 Villains Appear As Hallucinations

Batman Unchained will focus on Batman's ultimate attempt to confront and move on from the traumas of his past, including Dealing with the memory of his first villain, the Joker. Given that the Clown Prince of Crime ended on the climax of Burton's Batman, it seems unlikely that the same version of the iconic villain will ever appear again. However, Jack Nicholson's Joker will return as a scarecrow fear toxin-induced hallucination.

This unique method of bringing dead villains back to life was later used in the 2015 video game Batman: Arkham Knight. When the Joker died in the climax of Batman: Arkham City, he infected Batman with his own blood. Then, in the next game, the Joker appears as a hallucinogenic vision in Bruce Wayne's mind, following and taunting him as he tries to stop the titular Arkham Knight. The setting is so unique and specific that the creators may have taken inspiration from a Schumacher film that never existed.

4/5 Scarecrow Forms An Alliance With Another Villain

Batman Unchained will once again see two popular members of The Caped Crusader's rogue gallery team up to take down Batman. The planned story has Jonathan Crane (aka Scarecrow) teaming up with another villain, as he did after discovering Batman's identity in Nolan's Batman Begins . In Unchained, Crane will team up with Harley Quinn, Who wants to avenge the Joker's death. The two would attempt to mentally break Bruce and send him to Arkham Asylum.

Although the ending is different, Batman Begins also sees Scarecrow teaming up with another big villain: Ra's al Ghul. In Batman Begins, Scarecrow's goals aren't limited to Batman, instead he's interested in testing his fear gas throughout Gotham City. Evil teams aren't uncommon, so it's possible Nolan just decided to have Crane and the League of Shadows team up for unrelated reasons. At the very least, however, it's an interesting coincidence that the next Batman feature film after Unchained's cancellation centers on the same villain from the team.

3/5 Joker Has A Daughter

Duela Dent, aka The Joker's Daughter, has had a complicated history in the comics and on TV, and it is generally still vague if she is actually any version of the Joker's daughter. However, Batman Unchained certainly gave the famous Batman antagonist a child. In the proposed story, Harley Quinn is a toymaker and the daughter of Nicholson's Joker. While a departure from Harley's classic origins in the DCAU and DC Comics (where she's the Joker's fallen psychiatrist), it makes sense As an alternative, a fifth Batman movie from that era could have been tied to Burton's original, given their similar looks and attitudes.

Several DC TV shows premiere in 2022, and Gotham Knights will premiere in 2023 (unrelated to the 2022 video game of the same name). The series will follow Unchained's strict confirmation that the Joker does indeed have a daughter. In this version, Duela will work with Bruce's adopted son, Turner Hayes, to solve the mystery of Bruce's killing. Duela and Turner will also be joined by the children of other Batman villains, including Cluemaster and Lincoln March.

2/5 Harley Quinn Makes A Live-Action Appearance

After Margot Robbie's portrayal in several DCU films, Joker live-action might not seem new, but Harley didn't exist outside of Batman: The Animated Series in the 90s. Harry is one of the few notable Batman characters created outside of the comics. Although Harley Quinn's origin story will be different in Batman Unchained, this will be her first live-action appearance. Even though Harley is meant to be the Joker's daughter, not his psychiatrist and lover, the connection still allows her to wear her traditional clown-inspired costume and mirror Clowns love of theater and clowns.

Although it took more than two decades, live-action Harley Quinn finally made her debut in 2016's Suicide Squad. While the film largely disappoints due to its chaotic tone and memorable villain, Robbie's version of Harry is a spot-on rendering of the character from the recent comics. The idea of ​​bringing Harry to the big screen was a good one, and Robbie reprized the role in two other DCU films. Additionally, Lady Gaga will reprise another version of Harley Quinn in 2024's Joker: Folie à Deux. Being able to put down the cowl and take a trip to Italy with Selena Kyle. Heroes are rare in superhero media, but the film's limited structure means it's more realistic than the comics. It's only happened once with Batman so far, but Schumacher's Batman Unchained would give Bruce Wayne a similar ending.

1/5 Bruce Wayne Leaves Gotham And Finds Peace

After finally defeating the hallucinatory sinful memories of Harley, the Scarecrow, and the other villains, Bruce Wayne could have set out to Bali. There, to show that he has overcome his guilt and fear, he is seen entering a cave and letting bats circle him fearlessly. The exotic location and final cathartic moment bear similarities to the final act of Nolan's trilogy and would give Schumacher's lost Batman project a sense of closure.

More: Robin's deleted role in Batman '89 (and the actor who played it)