Before Darren Aronofsky almost directed The Wolverine and before Christopher Nolan delivered his hit Batman trilogy, the Black Swan helmer was hired by Warner Bros. to launch his first superhero film with Batman: Year One. As we know, that project never got past the development stage, but over a decade later, we’ve got some proof of its existence with concept art.

Tipped off by i09, this version based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel would have been quite different. Our superhero (who Aronofsky reportedly pitched to be played by Clint Eastwood), wouldn’t be living at Wayne Manor, rather above an automobile garage in Gotham, where he was taken in by “Big Al,” a character whose son “Little Al” would grow up to be the Alfred-type character we know. There’s many more details here, but it’s an intriguing, grittier take that would have been interesting to see. Regardless, I’m not a big fan of the concept art below and Aronofsky went on to do better things, while Nolan did just fine, so no harm done.

In a different world, however, perhaps Aronofsky’s Batman would intersect with the world of the upcoming Man of Steel for Justice League and today we’ve got a full listen of a track from Hans Zimmer‘s score. Following six minutes of previews from the OST, check out the impressive full track titled “An Ideal Hope,” followed by Aronofsky’s concept art.

Update: Aronofsky has tweeted that neither he nor Miller were involved with the below work. Carry on.

Would you have liked to seen Darren Aronofsky’s version? What do you think of Zimmer’s full track?

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