Over the years, DC has pushed Batman more than any other superhero they have. It's easy to understand why--the character has been one fans have demanded to see again and again, mostly because of how different he is from other heroes. He gets close enough to the edge without jumping off and has one of the most interesting casts of supporting characters and enemies.
With no less than two different Batman movies coming out over the next couple of years in both animated and live-action forms, it's easy to wonder what major Batman storyline will be next. However, there are plenty of stories that DC will never adapt as cartoons or as major movies.
10 Batman: Earth One Shows A Batman That's Far Too Inexperienced
Batman Earth One was part of the Earth One line of stories, where the gimmick was two-fold. One, creators had the opportunity to create a version of superheroes who were just starting out without the burdens of continuity on them. And two, each storyline was released in the form of a complete graphic novel instead of monthly issues.
Johns and Frank’s Batman is a solid storyline, but it shows a Bruce that’s a little too inexperienced for what fans expect of him. In some areas, he’s legitimately bad and he never develops into the Batman everyone’s used to.
9 Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance Requires Too Much Knowledge About Flashpoint For A Standalone Film
This had one of the best twists in the world of Batman. A mini-series told within the Flashpoint universe, it took place in a universe where instead of Bruce’s parents being the ones killed, it was Bruce instead. The storyline followed the Batman of that timeline, a version of Thomas Wayne who couldn’t cope with having lost his son and decided he would single-handedly clean up Gotham.
The twist to this storyline was Thomas wasn’t the only one who survived—his wife Martha did as well, and she was driven to becoming the Joker in this timeline. This series would require way too much prior knowledge of Flashpoint’s alternate universe to become a standalone film.
8 Batman: Venom Shows Bruce Struggling With Drug Addiction
Batman: Venom is a storyline that takes place a couple of years before Batman: Knightfall in the pages of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. In this story, Batman fails to save a young girl from drowning because he simply isn’t strong enough.
Afterwards, he turns to Venom, a drug he becomes so addicted to that he even considers killing Commissioner Gordon just to get another fix. Eventually, Bruce locks himself in the Batcave and completely breaks himself from the addiction, only to defeat someone else that’s addicted to venom. It’s a great story, but showing a Bruce that’s addicted to drugs isn’t something that audiences would be too eager to see.
7 Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles Is Far Too Long To Fit Into A Movie
The War of Jokes and Riddles is perhaps the strongest part of Tom King’s nearly one hundred issue run on Batman that wasn’t solely devoted to Bat/Cat shenanigans or his battle against Bane, though those plots run in the background.
It features Batman’s Rogues Gallery getting caught up on either side of a battle between the Joker and the Riddler. There's a number of reasons why this would never become a movie: it's too long, it elevates Riddler to the level of Joker, includes way too much of Batman's rogues gallery, and in the end, is just one part of a larger run and would miss context without it.
6 Batman: Superheavy Would Have Some Fans Struggling With The Idea Of Jim Gordon As Batman
Superheavy was the follow-up to Scott Snyder’s popular story Batman: Endgame. A story where Joker managed to control the entire Justice League and ended with Bruce supposedly being gone for good, Superheavy continued by creating a new Batman for the city of Gotham. I
n this story, Jim was given the role of Batman and piloted an expensive suit of armor while working alongside the police. The biggest problem with a story like this is it takes the attention off of Batman and onto the GCPD, which is the last place most Batman fans want it.
5 Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader? - Would They Make A Batman Film That Centered Around The Idea That He Was Gone?
Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? is a story told after Batman is believed to have fallen. It’s a two-part story told by Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert, and Scott Williams. The story is incredibly poignant, and probably one of the best superhero stories Gaiman’s ever done, with Batman’s enemies paying their respects in their own way as well.
But ultimately, this story presumes they’d allow people to believe Batman was dead in the first place.
4 Batman R.I.P. Is Far Too Complex For A Standard Film
Grant Morrison’s story about Batman’s last adventure. This story is a bit of a trip, as Batman takes on a new villain in Doctor Hurt, who had not only figured out his identity but managed to find a way to destroy Bruce’s mind.
However, this doesn’t last for very long, as Bruce has an alternate personality emerge that’s purely Batman. This version of Bruce is able to bring down the Club of Villains and even defeats the Joker as well. The problem with this story is it’s simply too complex to be turned into a standard movie, as it also dovetails in with Morrison’s Final Crisis storyline.
3 Batman & Robin Would Require Someone Besides Bruce To Be Batman For A Film
Grant Morrison’s Batman storyline hit high gear after they moved on and created an all-new Batman for the next generation. The writer decided to turn Dick Grayson into the next Batman, and placed him in a Gotham that was more dangerous and yet more fun than ever.
This was an amazing run, but the problem with this story is ultimately DC will likely never let anyone else take on the role of Batman besides Bruce Wayne outside the comics (unless it’s a long-running television series.)
2 Batman: A Lonely Place Of Dying Places Too Much Focus On The Robins
A Lonely Place of Dying is a story that introduces the third Robin, Tim Drake. It starts out by introducing the idea that Batman has become a more unhinged, violent hero with the absence of Jason Todd. Tim Drake eventually figures out the identity of Batman and tries to convince Dick Grayson to become Robin again to help Bruce, but when this fails Tim Drake goes into battle against Two-Face to help Batman.
Tim Drake is barely emphasized in the animated films, and the Bat-Family is completely ignored in the movies, so this storyline will likely never be seen.
1 The Golden Age Batman Would Require Explaining The Origin Story Of A Batman From Another Multiverse
The Golden Age Batman is a story that tells the origin of the original Batman from Detective Comics #27. This Batman has been replaced multiple times over the decades of Batman stories, but in the ’60s and '70s made various appearances through cross-overs and Earth-Two focused stories.
Finally, his origin was told in Secret Origins Vol. 2 #6 by Roy Thomas and Marshall Rogers. There’s no reason to tell this story because it’s something that would only have meaning inside of a vast multiverse where different Batman were given the focus.