As reports surfaced that Christopher Nolan was making a sequel to “Batman Begins,” rumors once again circulated that Robin Williams might finally get his chance to play the coveted role of the Joker. With buzz surrounding Paul Bettany and Adrien Brody that they might land the part, Williams was happy to make his case. In an interview with IGN in 2006, he said:
“Oh gosh, I’d love to do that. […] There are many ways to go. I think you can really explore how brilliant and nasty and funny it is, just like I guess what Kevin [Spacey] he did with Lex Luthor, he made it really funny, but still damaged. […] As evil is, accessible and yet horrible.”
As it turned out, Heath Ledger was Nolan’s only real consideration for the role and the young actor repaid the director’s faith, creating an entirely different Joker that many consider to be the best big screen version of the character. Williams was never seriously involved in the run, but later acknowledged the brilliance of Ledger’s performance in an interview with Empire in 2012, while noting his eagerness to play some kind of role in the upcoming film:
“I’d work with Chris again in a second, playing anyone in anything. I’d play The Riddler in the next Batman, although Heath would be hard to top as the villain, and I’m a little hairy for stockings. […] I am using this article as an advertisement. Chris, call me, I’ll do anything. He could be a great character, or a strange little man in the background of Arkham Asylum.”
Of course, Nolan eventually went with Tom Hardy as Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises” and Williams sadly passed away two years later, after nearly three decades of publicly campaigning to play a Batman supervillain.