Batman Begins Batman Begins: the alternate cast

[General Vulcun]

Nolan's approach to casting his Batman films has been about getting the best possible actors for their roles, even shooting high for actors with such high profiles like Caine, Freeman, and Neeson. Looking at the cast for all 3 of his Batmans, Nolan has done just that. But looking back at the production of Batman Begins and the rumoured actors in consideration for each role, things could've been much different moving forward.

This is not a thread trying to question whether the alternate cast would've been better than the cast Begins ended up with, but in general would this alternate cast have done a good job.

So, do you believe this would've been a good cast for the film & the franchise moving forward?

Bruce Wayne/Batman: Jake Gyllenhaal
Alfred: Anthony Hopkins
Henri Ducard: Daniel Day-Lewis
Rachel Dawes: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Lucius Fox: Laurence Fishburne
Jim Gordon: Chris Cooper
Jonathan Crane: Christopher Eccleston
Carmine Falcone: Tom Wilkinson
Ra's al Ghul:Ken Watanabe
Earle: Rutger Hauer

And for the hell of it, the two major newcomers to TDK:

Ther Joker: Sean Penn (of all the actors rumoured this was the most "Nolan" choice)
Harvey Dent: Matt Damon

And before anyone says anything, no, I don't believe Watanabe was really Ra's and Neeson was just Ducard. I'm simply going by the credits on the cast list.

 

[Knight Rise]

no offense but IMO this is a terrible line up

 

[General Vulcun]

lol, none taken. I'm just going off of the rumoured actors, the first choices, alternates, etc. I think some of them would've been good. DDL as Ra's would've been interesting, Cooper as Gordon would've been good, Gellar would've been better than Holmes, at least. Gyllenhaal as Batman, though, would've been very hard to swallow. Good actor, but not really Batman material.

 

[Ponyboy]

As soon as I saw Gyllenhaal I went "nah"

and Sean Penn? Really? *shakes head*

 

[Dark Guardian]

In general I say nay, but I'm intrigued by the idea of a Christopher Eccleston Scarecrow. I love the actor and I think he'd have a fascinating presence in the role. He could be really creepy in a burlap mask...

 

[ShrinkingMan]

i think Jake is a great actor. he's just too likeable/boyish to be Bruce/Bats. There's no darkness to him. other than that i think the alternative would have done just as good of a job. I really think Matt Damon would have put in a good job as Harvey Dent.

 

[Gotham Knight]

I'm not a fan of that cast at all.

 

[Mister Meddle]

Jake Gyllenhaal would have been the goofiest looking Bruce Wayne. Christian Bale had the perfect looking face, physique and acting skills for the role.

I remember, back in 2004, I read something about David Puddy was considered for the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne (I don't know if there's any truth to it). You know, Elaine's boyfriend from Seinfeld. Never seen much of his stuff outside of Seinfeld but I always thought he looked like a real life Bruce Wayne.

 

[Schlosser85]

Bruce Wayne/Batman: Jake Gyllenhaal
Alfred: Anthony Hopkins
Henri Ducard: Daniel Day-Lewis
Rachel Dawes: Sarah Michelle Gellar
Lucius Fox: Laurence Fishburne
Jim Gordon: Chris Cooper
Jonathan Crane: Christopher Eccleston
Carmine Falcone: Tom Wilkinson
Ra's al Ghul:Ken Watanabe
Earle: Rutger Hauer

And for the hell of it, the two major newcomers to TDK:

Ther Joker: Sean Penn (of all the actors rumoured this was the most "Nolan" choice)
Harvey Dent: Matt Damon

I don't see Jake Gyllenhaal as Batman. I like him, he just does't seem "Batman" to me. Too boyish, not intense like Bale. I don't think Sarah Michelle Gellar is a good actress (but I don't think Katie Holmes is either). I also don't see Anthony Hopkins being as Alfred-esque as Michael Caine. Daniel Day-Lewis as Ducard would have been good, and Laurence Fishburne and Chris Cooper as Fox and Gordon probably would have been fine. I prefer Cillian Murphy over Christopher Eccleston for Scarecrow.

No way do I see Sean Penn being a good Joker, at least not in comparison to Ledger. And I don't really Matt Damon as Harvey.