Batman Unchained/Triumphant
Although the chances of it being made after the backlash against Batman & Robin were slim, work did begin on a fifth film in the 1990s Batman series. Alternatively titled Batman Unchained or Batman Triumphant the intent was to bring the series to a close, ending the narrative threads begun in Batman Forever. Despite what you may read online, George Clooney was not under contract and the studio had actually approached Val Kilmer to return to the role; joining him would be Alicia Silverstone and Chris O'Donnell returning as Batgirl and Robin. Menacing our caped crusader would be Harley Quinn, played by Madonna, and Scarecrow, played by Jeff Goldblum, in this version, Quinn would be the daughter of Joker out for revenge. In an extended fear-gas sequence, every villain faced since the 1989 film would return, with Batman having to overcome each in turn. I'm sure it wouldn't have been great, but that sequence with previous actors returning could have been pretty awesome to see.
If there's one film on this list I'm genuinely upset didn't get made, it's X-Men Origins: Magneto. The intended follow-up to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, parts of this film became X-Men First Class, which I'm yet to review, but I really don't care for it. Before the first film flopped, the plan was for a film in which a young Eric would grow to adulthood in Auschwitz, fighting to survive and killing his tormentors with his powers, after the war, he would hunt Nazis in South America, eventually encountering Charles Xavier and undertaking the task of collecting mutants to form the first X-Men. The tone would have been pitch-dark, a blend of The Boy In The Striped Pajamas, The Boys From Brazil and Seven Years in Tibet with Magneto in the lead and Ian McKellen narrating the whole thing. Sadly, this was not to be, and we got trimmed down ideas in a disappointing soft-reboot of the franchise.
Ok kids, strap yourself in for this one. X-Men hanger-on Dazzler was invented with the intent of tying into a co-production film to break Marvel into Hollywood. It's 1979, Disco is waning, but still enjoying a lot of attention in the media, so the idea of "The Disco Dazzler", a superhero pop star was crafted with a record label to handle the production of the music and Marvel making a tie-in comic to launch the idea to the public. The real meat is in the proposed film, however, which almost made it into production with one of the wildest pitches ever; Dazzler, Spider-Man and the contemporary Avengers roster are transported into an alternate future New York City where society has collapsed into gang warfare and tribalism. Not a big deal until you learn that Cher and Donna Summer were tapped to head the warring factions, commanding soldiers including KISS and The Village People. Robin Williams was to be the love interest for Dazzler, a strange take on Starfox, who would be manipulated by three Rodney Dangerfields into sparking a massive war, because the triplets are actually deep-cut Marvel cosmic character Lord Chaos. The finale would be a big battle between all three factions during a massive Disco number that would finally unite the world in dance. Sure, this film probably would have been garbage, possibly even torpedoing the superhero film genre before it began, but I imagine it would have been a spectacular failure in the vein of Cats or Showgirls; a kind of cinematic train-wreck you simply couldn't turn away from.
Another script which parts of were re-adapted at some stage, this time into the Godzilla animated series, this follow-up to the 1998 Godzilla is really more interesting in concept than I feel it may have been if realised. Opening minutes after the ending of the previous film, Matthew Broderik's character would find the last Zilla egg as it hatched, having the monster mistake him for its mother before being chased off by soldiers. The following film would have been more in line with classic Godzilla stories, with more giant monsters and fewer humans running around being annoying. Having Zilla trash Sydney would have been interesting, but I really don't mind that I'll never get to see this film, as Zilla's death in Godzilla Final War is about all the follow-up the garbage 1998 film deserves.
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