So, in the spirit of fostering discussion about popular culture, and helping to shepherd this thread away from War-And-Politics, let's talk about Batman.
More specifically, let's talk about how he might make it to the big screen, in the post-Adam West era. Of the many possibilities bandied about, a few seem near-constant: a self-consciously "serious" interpretation of the Dark Knight, to counteract the farce and camp of the 1960s TV series; a dark, stylish, noir-influenced atmosphere; and emphasis on "mature" themes.
How else might Batman have arrived on the big screen, if not in its OTL form? Who would the major players have been? Would there have been any specific influences, different from those of OTL? How would the film be received? What would potential sequels look like? Would there be spin-offs or spiritual successors, like the beloved Timm/Dini Animated Series?
A lot of intriguing possibilities here...
Well, there is this
Batman in Film tid-bit from Wikipedia -
"Producers Michael Uslan and Benjamin Melniker purchased the film rights of Batman from DC Comics in April 1979. It was Uslan's wish "to make the definitive, dark, serious version of Batman, the way Bob Kane and Bill Finger had envisioned him in 1939. A creature of the night; stalking criminals in the shadows."[3] Richard Maibaum was approached to write a script with Guy Hamilton to direct, but the two turned down the offer. Uslan was unsuccessful with pitching Batman to various movie studios because they wanted the film to be similar to the campy 1960s TV series. Columbia Pictures and United Artists were among those to turn down the film.[4]
A disappointed Uslan then wrote a script titled Return of the Batman to give the film industry a better idea of his vision for the film. Uslan later compared its dark tone to that of The Dark Knight Returns, which his script pre-dated by six years.[3] In November 1979, producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber joined the project.[5] The four producers felt it was best to pattern the film's development after that of Superman (1978).[6] Uslan, Melniker and Guber pitched Batman to Universal Pictures, but the studio turned it down.[7] Though no movie studios were yet involved, in late 1981 the project was publicly announced with a budget of $15 million. Warner Bros. decided to accept Batman.[8]
Tom Mankiewicz completed a script titled The Batman in June 1983, focusing on Batman and Dick Grayson's origins, with the Joker and Rupert Thorne as villains, and Silver St. Cloud as the romantic interest.[9] Mankiewicz took inspiration from the limited series Batman: Strange Apparitions (ISBN 1-56389-500-5), written by Steve Englehart.[10] Comic book artist Marshall Rogers, who worked with Englehart on Strange Apparitions, was hired for concept art.[7] The Batman was then announced in late 1983 for a mid-1985 release date on a budget of $20 million. Originally, Uslan had wanted an unknown actor for Batman, William Holden for James Gordon, and David Niven as Alfred Pennyworth.[8] Holden died in 1981 and Niven in 1983, so this would never come to pass. A number of filmmakers were attached to Mankiewicz' script, including Ivan Reitman and Joe Dante.[11] Nine rewrites were performed by nine separate writers. Most of them were based on Strange Apparitions. However it was Mankiewicz' script that was still being used to guide the project.[12]"
So, if you want to be minimalist, it seems that the earliest you'd get a movie would be around the very early 1980s, probably 1981-2 as the most practical 'earliest' time. If the people initially being approached had accepted, I can imagine Batman having James Bond feel to it - playboy billionaire playing Bacarat by day, crushing crime with caped panache at night. Interestingly, it looks like there were more ideas as to the supporting cast than the Bat.
) I have found a way for Gerald Ford to be re-elected via a TV show. I'm rather self-satisfied about it too 
