Did Marlon Brando Almost Play The Penguin In 'Batman Returns'? Not Exactly, Says Tim Burton.

A few weeks ago, Danny DeVito shared some frank thoughts about the evolution of the "Batman" film franchise in the years since he played The Penguin in 1992's "Batman Returns." We love playing the "What If?" game, so when we had the chance to sit down with Tim Burton, the director of that film (as well as 1989's "Batman"), we had to ask him about the wide range of actors he was rumored to have considered before settling on DeVito.

Among the potential Oswald Cobblepots (according to IMDB) were John Candy, Dustin Hoffman, Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd and—our favorite "What If?" possibility—Marlon Brando. So, we had to ask Burton, was Brando ever really in the mix for the role?





"No," laughed Burton. "I also wanted Sammy Davis Jr. to play Beetlejuice, so... sometimes my ideas don't go down so well with the studios. But hey, you try."

So, there you have it. Much like we hypothesized earlier today, maybe there's an alternate universe somewhere in which Brando did bring Batman's umbrella-wielding nemesis to the big screen.

I want to see that film. Don't you?

Be sure to check out our full interview with Tim Burton on Movies.MTV.com, and let us know what you think in the comment section or on Twitter!