Frank Miller: Batman Could Be an Italian Stallion

Posted by Adam Sweeney (adam@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 8, 2008

Don’t worry, Christian Bale isn’t getting replaced, but the writer and artist of “The Dark Knight Returns” thinks Sylvester Stallone would kill it as an aged Caped Crusader.

Frank Miller spoke with Geoff Boucher of the LA Times about who the prospects of a film adaptation of the most popular Batman comic ever, and apparently Sylvester would be at the top of the list to play the lead. “Just that mouth of his, the scowl and the way it would look in a mask,” Miller said. “I loved Rocky Balboa. This wounded warrior, that’s what Batman is in “The Dark Knight Returns.”

Boucher also spoke to Steve Martin (the owner of Nasty Little Man and publicist for Radiohead, not “SNL” Steve Martin) and he blasted the idea. “Put Stallone in a mask and you get Judge Dredd again, and nobody wants that.”

Stallone has taken his fair share of criticism, being voted by the Razzies as the 20th Century’s worst actor. But he’s not as bad as people would have you believe. Moments in the Rocky saga and films like Copland have shown that Sly can handle emotionally wounded characters. Maybe he would commit to the part of a beaten down Batman. It couldn’t be any worse than Cher playing Catwoman, right?

In a perfect world I would take Clint Eastwood before he started to look like the Crypt Keeper and have him play Bruce Wayne. In all likelihood, we won’t get a big-screen version of “The Dark Knight Returns,” but damn if it isn’t fun to imagine it.

Who would you want to play Batman in “The Dark Knight Returns?” What’s your favorite Sylvester Stallone film?

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