Michael Keaton may have played the title character, but Jack Nicholson was the main drawing card and focal point of the marketing for Tim Burton’s Batman. After all, in what was essentially 1980s cancel culture, tens of thousands of letters were sent to Warner Bros. headquarters protesting the decision to cast a comic actor best known for Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice as the brooding and iconic Dark Knight.
Of course, fast forward 30 years and Keaton is one of two names almost always in the conversation when it comes to deciding on who can be deemed the best big screen Batman ever alongside Christian Bale, and he’s not done with the role yet, either, having signed on to play Bruce Wayne for the first time in three decades as part of The Flash.
As for the Clown Prince of Crime, he’s been reinvented on many occasions since Nicholson’s scenery-chewing turn, with Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix both winning Academy Awards for their performances, while Jared Leto will be looking to atone for the sins of Suicide Squad when he returns as the Joker in Zack Snyder’s Justice League.
To prove the enduring popularity of Burton’s Gothic blockbuster, though, Nicholson’s fedora that he wore in Batman recently sold at an auction for $50,250, which is an awful lot of money to pay for a hat. The event saw a whole host of legendary movie memorabilia up for grabs, and the Joker’s headgear wasn’t even close to being the priciest item after Ewan McGregor’s lightsaber from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith went for $201,000, the R2-S8 droid from Solo was picked up for the same amount, and Keanu Reeves’ full costume from The Matrix Reloaded was acquired for $83,750
