Whatever Happened to the Cancelled Bruce Wayne TV Show?

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Years before Gotham presented us with a detailed account of how an orphaned billionaire grew up to become one of the greatest superheroes in popular culture, audiences were almost treated to another show with virtually the same premise – the appropriately titled Bruce Wayne. Conceived by The Iron Giant writer Tim McCanlies, Bruce Wayne was intended to document the complete origins of Batman across its 100+ episode run, culminating with Bruce weaponizing his greatest fear to strike terror into the criminal underworld. Despite an enthusiastic response from those involved, the show never advanced beyond the pilot script due to concerns that it would affect the forthcoming cinematic reboot, but this didn’t prevent Bruce Wayne from leaving its mark. Smallville – the similarly themed show centered around DC’s other major character – began development in the aftermath of Bruce Wayne’s cancelation, reusing much of its already completed work. This knowledge, combined with the leaked pilot script, helps to provide us with an idea of what this much-fabled show would have looked like.

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Bruce Wayne Came About a Turbulent Period for the Batman Franchise

George Clooney and Michael Gough in Batman & Robin
Image via Warner Bros

The late ‘90s/early 2000s were not the best time to be a Batman fan. The disastrous reception to Batman & Robin had destroyed his reputation with moviegoers overnight, and Warner Bros.’ inability to produce a successor was raising fundamental questions about whether the franchise had been irreparably tarnished. Countless projects were considered during these years in the wilderness, ranging from a Darren Aronofsky-directed adaptation of the acclaimed “Year One” story arc to another film under the care of Joel Schumacher entitled Batman Unchained (to give just a small selection). While each presented a unique take on the character, one basic thought recurred across every pitch – the desire to return Batman to a darker, more serious, tone. Given that the franchise had consistently produced its greatest work when adopting this mentality, there was no arguing that it was the best course of action. The only question was how it get it done.

Well, like everyone else in Hollywood, Tim McCanlies thought he had the answer. His newly acquired fame likely played some role in his desire to save one of comics’ greatest characters – prior to striking gold with The Iron Giant, McCanlies had spent most of his career as a script doctor, struggling to get his personal projects off the ground – but ultimately the reasoning doesn’t matter. He had the idea and the passion to tell it, and a positive meeting with Tollin/Robbins Productions showed that he wasn’t the only one to see its potential. Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins purchased the rights to Bruce Wayne before shipping it around to studios, quickly gaining the interest of The WB Television Network (whose parent company, WarnerMedia, also owned DC comics). While too early for formal casting, Shaun Ashmore and Trevor Fehrman were already being floated for the title role, and McCanlies began putting together a series bible to aid future writers. By all accounts, Bruce Wayne was about to become the network’s new flagship show… but it didn’t take long for that goal to be silenced.

Before Bruce Wayne had come within touching distance of pre-production, the film division of Warner Bros. was voicing concerns. While it’s not uncommon today to have multiple live-action depictions of superheroes occurring simultaneously across film and television, such a concept was unfamiliar territory in 2000 – especially for a franchise that was in such a precarious situation. If Bruce Wayne failed, it could sour audiences to the character even further, making a cinematic relaunch all but impossible in the immediate future. At the same time, success could prove equally troublesome if it meant audiences would be unwilling to accept yet another reboot so soon after the last one (or potentially at the same time depending on how many seasons the show lasted, a major problem by itself). Tollin and Robbins fought hard for their series, but it was obvious who would get the final say. In September 2000, it was reported that the studio would be moving ahead with Darren Aronofsky’s Year One (another project that barely lasted a year before getting shelved), leaving Bruce Wayne as a curious what-if.

The Show Would Have Covered a Five-to-Six-Year Period in Bruce’s Life

David Mazouz and Ben Mckenzie in Gotham
Image via Fox

But what-if indeed. Even though Bruce Wayne never advanced beyond early development, reading through McCanlies pilot script (which leaked online shortly after it was canceled) makes for a fascinating experience, and reveals a unique take on the Caped Crusader’s origins. The episode would have opened with Bruce Wayne (days away from turning eighteen and inheriting WayneCorp) returning to Gotham after a decade-long absence and instantly coming into conflict with muggers, corrupt businessmen, and nefarious police officers alike. His mission to stay alive and uncover the truth behind his parents’ death sees him crossing paths with various members of the Bat Family and Batman characters like Harvey Dent, Sergeant Jim Gordon, his daughter Barbara Gordon, and the mysterious Selina Kyle – all under the watchful care of his faithful companion and surrogate father figure Alfred Pennyworth.

As is often the case with pilots, it suffers from feeling more like setup for future episodes than it does a fully developed story (not helped by McCanlies trying to cram in as many fan favorites as he could), but on balance it’s a strong foundation. The characterization is solid, the framing device with an elderly Alfred is effective, and it flawlessly captured the ‘dark but not too dark’ tone that had proven successful with other shows that targeted a similar demographic. If Bruce Wayne was supposed to be the biggest teen sensation since Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then it had the right cards in play from day one. Of course, that dream never materialized, but information that has since come to light helps illuminate what McCanlies vision would have looked like.

The show would have covered a five-to-six-year period of Bruce’s life, outlining every step this young outcast took before he shed the billionaire lifestyle to become the ultimate symbol in the war against crime. His adventures would see him training in martial arts and mastering his forensic skillset beyond the capacity of a normal man – aided by brief stints working for the GCPD and the FBI, during which time he realizes that he works better outside the legal system – whilst also fabricating a secret base in the caves beneath Wayne Manor. Along the way he would have encountered virtually everyone who had appeared in a Batman comic such as Oswald Cobblepot, Vicki Vale, Harleen Quinzel, and (most notably) a failing comedian called Jack Napier (the same name Jack Nicholson’s Joker went by in Tim Burton’s Batman). If you’ve watched Gotham, all of this will sound very familiar (so much so that it effectively works as a glorified reimagining), but that show’s focus around an inexperienced Jim Gordon – combined with its stylized mix of adult content fed through the wringer of very comic book-y writing – does just enough to avoid comparisons to its unreleased predecessor.

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Even Thought It Never Aired, Bruce Wayne Led Directly to the Creation of ‘Smallville’

tom-welling-smallville-social
Image via Warner Bros.

But despite never making it to air, Bruce Wayne still left a valuable legacy. One of the most exciting episodes that McCanlies planned on writing was titled “Smallville” which focused on a mild-mannered reporter from out of town who crosses paths with Bruce while attending a newspaper convention, in the process revealing himself to have more than a few tricks hidden behind his Ray-Ban glasses. While we never got to see DC’s most iconic creations interacting before they had adopted their superhero personas, Warner Bros. found the idea intriguing – more so than anything else in the show. By the time Bruce Wayne had been scrapped, Tollin/Robbins Productions were already hard at work reconfiguring the show around a teenage Clark Kent instead, exploring how a simple farm boy from Kansas grew up to become Superman (and conveniently met all of his key supporting characters in the process). The series premiered in October 2001 under the name Smallville, and eventually grew to become one of the most popular shows of its era – quite a result for something that started life as a backdoor pilot in an unaired show.

A modern viewer might find Smallville a tad dated, but it’s impossible to understate its significance. Without Smallville, it’s almost certain that the Arrowverse would never have happened – itself a massive cultural cornerstone for the genre that dominated its television output for many years. And that’s just one example of the innumerable shows that have taken influence from it (most recently Netflix’s Wednesday). It’s strange to think how many shows owe their existence to a single unmade script, but Hollywood is full of such scenarios. We’ll never know for certain how Bruce Wayne would have impacted the Batman franchise, but we do know that it was the film division’s commitment to delivering a darker, gritter reboot that led to The Dark Knight Trilogy – a stunning collection of films that the genre is still struggling to match. Would Bruce Wayne have negatively affected the trilogy’s reception, or even prevented them from being produced in the first place? It’s a question we’ll never know the answer to, but it’s interesting to consider.

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