The Dwayne Johnson movie Black Adam will mark the first time Pierce Brosnan fit as a superhero for a comic book movie, but it could have happened to the Dark Knight decades ago. In a recent interview about The Tonight Show, Brosnan spoke to Jimmy Fallon about his first foray into the superhero genre. The conversation led to Brosnan commenting on how he was for Batman in the 1980s, although his audition didn’t exactly go well.
“It was the last thing on my mind playing a superhero like Doctor Fate,” Brosnan said, adding that he hasn’t been approached often for these kinds of roles. “I mean, I went for Batman way back when Tim Burton did it. Obviously I didn’t get the job.”
As we now know, Michael Keaton would be the actor who would get that role. To this day, Keaton remains an all-time favorite Batman actor for many Dark Knight fans. Maybe Brosnan wasn’t planning on getting the part with Keaton for the part as well, but to make matters worse, the actor embarrassed himself during his audition by admitting that he just didn’t understand Batman’s appeal. He criticized the character’s appearance and considering how lucrative Batman movies have turned out, Brosnan now realizes it was a “stupid” thing to say.
“I remember saying something stupid to Tim Burton, I said, ‘You know I can’t understand a man who would wear his underpants outside his pants.’ But there you go,” Brosnan commented. “The best man got the job, and you know Dr. Fate and I would meet on the same line, I guess.”
Pierce Brosnan enters the realm of superheroes in Black Adam
Brosnan may not have been the right choice for Tim Burton’s Batmanbut he’s a “dream casting” choice for the role of Dr. fate in Black Adam, according to producer Hiram Garcia. In an earlier interview with the IlluminatiGarcia talked about why Brosnan was perfect for the role and teased what he’ll bring to the screen with the role in Black Adam.
“When you look at Pierce Brosnan, who is an OG, as best you could describe it, he just blows you away,” Garcia said. “From the moment he gets on set, he just elevates everything. He’s just so charming. He’s got such a mastery of just being on screen, I think once he goes there.”
He added: “And to see him with all our young actors as well, it’s so nice just to see them hanging out with him, getting to know him. They all became such good friends in this process and had so much compensation for downtime. And you could feel that energy and that chemistry when they were on screen. He was such a dream casting.”
Black Adam will premiere in theaters on October 21, 2022.