BATMAN FOREVER Screenwriter Recalls His Conversation with Robin Williams About Playing Riddler
When Joel Schumacher was initially developing Batman Forever for Warner Bros. Michael Keaton was still expected to play Bruce Wayne/Batman, and Robin Williams was originally going to take on the role of Edward Nygma/The Riddler. This would have been such a great combination! Keaton and Williams… the fans would have loved that! But, the film went in a completely different direction with Val Kilmer replacing Keaton and Jim Carrey ending up in the role of The Riddler.
During a recent interview with The Playlist, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman talked about what it was like for him working on Batman Forever and recalled meeting with Williams about The Riddler. Goldsman began by saying:
"I think I was arm's length from it. I wasn't a producer yet… I didn't understand quite how it worked. I didn't have the same access I do now that I'm old. I think that Val wasn't cast or just was, and Robin Williams was still attached."
Goldsman went on to explain that director Schumacher wanted Goldsman to meet with Williams to talk about ideas on how to tackle The Riddler. These discussions went well, but ultimately Williams and the director didn't "see eye to eye" and Carrey was cast in the role. Goldman said:
"I remember sort of this extraordinary day where Joel sent me to San Francisco, and I spent the day in Robin's kitchen and him just talking about the Riddler, and he was like, genius is not the right word. It was as if he had opened up his head and the universe would just talk into it. It was so beautiful and so kind and I remember when I got home, he had left message on my answering machine…my then girlfriend, kept playing it over and over again."
Goldman added:
"Ultimately, he and Joel didn't see eye to eye. Jim came on. Jim was amazing. Tommy Lee [Jones] had worked with Joel and I in The Client and off we went. And it was fun and funny and extraordinary.”
It’s a shame things didn’t work out for Williams playing The Riddler. While Carrey gave a fun performance, I think Williams would have delivered an iconic performance. But, Keaton and Williams together in a third Batman film from director Tim Burton… that would have been magic.