Pierce Brosnan is well known for playing a super-capable action hero with access to all manner of high-tech gadgets. But the big-screen history of James Bond could have changed dramatically, if only the actor had accepted the chance to play a different super-capable action hero with access to all manner of high-tech gadgets.

In a Reddit AMA supporting his new film The November Man, Brosnan revealed he was considered for the lead role in Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman — which, of course, didn't pan out.

"I went and met with Tim Burton for the role of Batman," he said. "But I just couldn't really take it seriously, any man who wears his underpants outside his pants just cannot be taken seriously. That was my foolish take on it. It was a joke, I thought. But how wrong was I?"

Clearly, Brosnan's stance has softened, and he was amenable enough to the action genre to slip on the 007 tuxedo for four Bond movies, beginning with Goldeneye and ending with Die Another Day. But there will always be a "what if" surrounding Brosnan and Batman; indeed, the actor said he grew up as a big fan of the Caped Crusader.

"I love Batman," he said, "and I grew up on Batman. As a kid in Ireland, we used to get our raincoats and tie them round our neck and swing through the bicycle shed."

Brosnan's next action film is The November Man, in theaters Aug. 27.