8 Superhero TV Shows That Never Materialized

Bruce Wayne

Before Smallville, there was supposed to be Bruce Wayne. Screenwriter Tim McCanlies pitched his idea to Tollin/Robbins Productions about a series following a teenage Wayne as he embarks on his path to becoming Gotham City’s Dark Knight. Impressed with his concept and different approach to the character, the production company bought the rights and shopped the series around to the networks.

Initially, the WB Television Network loved the idea and felt it would be their next big hit. But they hit a bump in the road rather quickly: there was an internal battle between Warner’s TV and film divisions over the use of Batman. After the titanic failure of Batman & Robin, the film side of the WB lot wanted to get the Caped Crusader back on track on their terms – and the TV show ended up being a casualty of this internal war.

In a way, we did get to see this idea come to fruition in Gotham, but we can’t help wonder if Bruce Wayne would’ve been a better series overall. At least Tollin/Robbins persisted with a similar idea and we got to see the terrific Smallville instead.