AI Imagines Paul Newman & Mark Hamill As Batman & Robin With A Perfect Supporting Cast

Thanks to AI, comic book fans can envision what superhero movies would look like had the genre really exploded in previous decades. There may have been the occasional Batman or Superman movie, but these types of flicks were definitely less prevalent than they are today. AI has been used to cast a perfect 1980s X-Men movie, and now, Alternate Reality Movies on Facebook has shown what a 1970s Batman film would look like with Paul Newman as the Caped Crusader.

Newman was an influential force in Hollywood for decades, starring in such memorable movies as "Cool Hand Luke" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." And that's just a couple of the greatest Paul Newman movies ever. He would've been an ideal pick for the Dark Knight, and the AI-generated images show him as both the suave Bruce Wayne and in costume as Batman. To fill out the rest of the cast, it appears a lot of influence was taken from "Star Wars," as Mark Hamill has been cast as Batman's trusted sidekick, Robin.

Carrie Fisher and Alec Guinness have been used as bases for Batgirl and Alfred Pennyworth, respectively. Lastly, Newman's Batman would've obviously needed a worthy foe, and the image depicts Ol' Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, as Joker, sporting a colorful outfit pretty much in line with Jack Nicholson's Joker from 1989's "Batman." It's an awesome cast and a good reminder of what might exist in an alternate timeline.

Paul Newman as Batman would have been perfect casting in the 1970s. It would've been particularly cool if Newman's Batman could've eventually teamed up with Superman, played by Christopher Reeves, in the same time period, but alas, such things weren't meant to be. As it happens, there was once a rumor of Newman being attached to a canceled Batman movie we never got to see. But before you get too excited, that rumor was shot down quickly.

After the disappointment of "Batman & Robin," Warner Bros. floated various ideas on how to bring the character back to the big screen. One idea was to push forward with a live-action movie based on the "Batman Beyond" cartoon, and there were further rumors Paul Newman was approached to portray an older version of Bruce Wayne while Keanu Reeves could've been Terry McGinnis. Warner Bros. eventually came forward denying the Paul Newman casting rumor. In 2000, TV Guide published the following quote from an insider privy to the situation: "There's absolutely no truth to the rumor." Of course, a "Batman Beyond" live-action movie never came to fruition, and the franchise would end up being rebooted with 2005's "Batman Begins."

While Newman's Batman casting was never a reality, a far more interesting casting tidbit is that the actor was approached to star in 1978's "Superman." He had his choice of parts between the Man of Steel, Jor-El, and Lex Luthor, and he didn't want to do any of them. But when you're a legend like Paul Newman, you don't really need the boost brought on by a superhero flick.