Charles Foster Kane, Batman?

Is mark Millar full of it? Is this a hoax? He says that he has access to materials from an upcoming biography of the fat man himself and that Orson Wells spent eight months in pre-production for a Bat Man Film in 1946.

From the column:

The real treat for me was the casting notes and confirmation letters from the actors themselves such as George Raft signing up for Two-Face (after Bogart turned it down), James Cagney as The Riddler, Basil Rathbone as The Joker and Welles' former lover Marlene Dietrich as a very exotic Catwoman with the same salubrious past Miller gave the character forty years later in "Batman: Year One." Robin was completely absent from the picture, but the casting of Batman himself was the main reason the picture stalled and was consigned to the history books. Welles wanted to cast himself in the roles of both Batman and Bruce Wayne, but the studio wanted to go with a more traditional leading man like Gregory Peck. Peck agreed and was reportedly even shot in a makeshift costume for the part during a break between filming "The Yearling" and the classic "Duel in the Sun." Welles, however, was incensed at the decision. Despite being friends with Peck, he felt that this casting would completely compromise his vision and was especially angry at the studio's suggestion that he should replace Rathbone as The Joker if he really a part in the picture. The talks ended abruptly, Welles pulled out pf the whole deal and threw himself completely into "The Lady From Shanghai" and the "MacBeth" cinematic feature he had also been preparing for some time.


Much like Harry at AICN I anxiously await the biography which Millar says will contain the entire treatment for the proposed film as well as production design drrawings beyond the one with his column.

It's sad that something like this never got made. I think it would have completely redefined how the public viewed the comic medium. Perhaps we would have something more in line with Japan where there are comics for everyone and there is no social stigma attached to reading them.