This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. We stand with the SAG-AFTRA. Without them, the movies and television shows we cover would not exist.
Growing up, we used to have the biggest crush on Josh Hartnett. You know though, crushes fade (this one didn’t) and time movies on. You grow up and you realize that you can have a crush, but they don’t know who you are, and so you become like meh.
Crushes though, are a part of life.
That being said, you didn’t click on the link to hear about a crush. You clicked on the link cause you gave a fuck about why Josh Hartnett wasn’t Batman. Well, as a fan of his, it pains us to say this, but we couldn’t imagine him being Batman. No, no, we’re not casting directors, so what do we know?
Well, we know that we have an opinion and we’re okay with that.
Christopher Nolan has been making the rounds doing press for Oppenheimer, and hey, that movie marks the first time that Hartnett has been in a Nolan movie. So naturally, because we all knew about Hartnett possibly being in Batman, he was asked about it.
It’s relevant, because who will be Batman is always relevant.
While on the Happy, Sad, Confused Podcast, Nolan talked about the possibility of Hartnett being Batman and said that Harnett had actually been more interested in another part at the time.
“I met with Josh and if I recall, he was a young actor whose work I was very interested in,” Nolan said.
He added, “I had an initial conversation with him but he had read my brother’s script for The Prestige at the time and was more interested in getting involved with that. So it never went further than that.”
There was no screen test, because it “never got that far.”
Look, while we we can admit that we never saw him as Batman, we loved him in Oppenheimer. That movie is in theaters now.
Oh and if you’re wondering who was Batman back when the whole Hartnett as Batman thing was going down? Well, that would be Christian Bale.
