Adam West Pitches Himself for Ben Affleck’s Batman Universe

Ben Affleck is the current cinematic Dark Knight, but a former Caped Crusader has an idea how he can stay connected with the Batman mythos. Adam West, who played DC’s detective in the iconic 1960s TV series, wants to play Bruce Wayne’s dad … with a twist.

“You know what I’d love to do?” West told ComicBook.com in a recent interview. “Those guys are all wonderful talents in their own ways, and they approach the role differently, but if I could approach it in a darker way, of course, in a more serious way, however, it would be wonderful to play Bruce Wayne’s father coming back. You know he was murdered, but coming back one dark and stormy lightning-riven night through a library window. Bruce Wayne is there thinking, ‘I’ll never solve this. This is the most difficult thing in my life.’ In comes old dad, like a bat, almost.”

The father of Affleck’s Bruce Wayne has already been seen onscreen in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, making it even less likely that West’s dream would come true; in that movie, he was played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

As strange as this twist may seem, it wouldn’t be the first time Bruce Wayne’s dad has seemingly returned from the dead. The apparent return of Thomas Wayne, alive, was one of the plot twists in Grant Morrison’s fan-favorite 2006-2009 Batman run, and an idea expanded upon in the 2012 series Earth 2, which revealed that Wayne Sr. had faked his own death after the mugging that killed his wife, later taking on the role of Batman himself after the death of his son.

In the “regular” Batman comic book mythology, the Dark Knight actually did solve the mystery of who killed his parents; it was mugger/occasional crime boss (different stories place him at different levels within the Gotham underworld) Joe Chill.

West returns to Batman — playing Bruce Wayne, not Thomas — in the animated Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, available now on digital HD.

Related Stories

Related Story

William Shatner to Voice Two-Face in 'Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders' Sequel