Cast any actor from any era for your dream Batman cast.

[Shazam!]

Batman - George Clooney
Robin - Jerry Mathers
Batgirl - Lindsay Lohan
Alfred - David Niven
Aunt Harriet - Charlotte Rae
Commisioner Gordon - Powers Boothe

The Joker - Russell Brand
The Penguin - Gert Fröbe
Catwoman - Ava Gardner
The Riddler - Greg Kinnear
Mr. Freeze - Jeremy Irons
The Scarecrow - Ian McKellan
Poison Ivy - Marcia Cross
Harley Quinn - Nicole Sullivan
Zatanna - Catherine Zeta-Jones
Ra's Al Ghul - Vincent Price
Talia - Emmanuelle Vaugier
Bat-Mite - Verne Troyer

That's a nightmare cast.

 

[Finnegan]

Batman/Bruce Wayne = Patrick Swayze
Joker = Johnny Depp
Egghead = Telly Savalis/Yul Brenner
Catwoman = Angelina Jolie
Commish Gordon = Carol O'Connor
Riddler = Steve Buscemi
Alfred = Patrick Stewart
Harvet Dent/Two Face = Brad Pitt
Scarecrow = Iggy Pop

 

[Admiral_Young]

I'm changing my choice for Riddler from Johnny Depp to Brad Dourif (Grima Wormtongue, Ensign Sudor in Voyager). I think he'd make a great, creepy Riddler.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'm not very familiar with all the characters, but for the ones I know...

Batman - Gregory Peck
Robin - an adolescent Dean Stockwell
Batgirl - Sally Field, circa The Flying Nun
Alfred - Dick Powell
Commissioner Gordon - Burt Lancaster

The Joker - Henry Fonda, in villanous spaghetti-western mode
The Penguin - W.C. Fields, seconded
Catwoman - Josephine Baker
The Riddler - Sterling Hayden
Mr. Freeze - Marlon Brando
The Scarecrow - Ray Bolger is hard to beat, but how about Jimmy Stewart?
Poison Ivy - Joan Crawford and Bette Davis can fight over the role
Harley Quinn - Natalie Wood
Ra's Al Ghul - Jose Ferrer

 

[The Fatman]

For me, with the possible exception of Christian Bale, everyone in the Nolan-verse movies have essentially seared themselves into my mind as the iconic representations of the characters, so I won't even bother listing those characters.

Tim Drake - I can't think of anyone better, so I'm OK with River Phoenix
Dick Grayson - Here's where I expect to hear some guff. Disregarding skin color, I think a young Will Smith would be perfect for Dick.
Jason Todd - Joaquin Phoenix
Barbara Gordon - I keep going back to Dina Meyer. I'm having a hard time thinking of someone better...

Catwoman - Angelina Jolie
Mr. Freeze - Leonard Nimoy
Riddler - Bob Hope
Harley Quinn - Jenny McCarthy as a live-action version of the cartoon, but as someone young, beautiful, and talented who could have played a great Harley opposite Heath? Scarlett Johansson.
Penguin - no one... ever... will come close to Burgess Meredith. Although, I will say those Philip Seymour Hoffman rumors aren't terribly upsetting.

 

[DigificWriter]

My dream scenario would be to see Christopher Nolan sort of pay homage to two of the four previous Batman films by bringing in Danny DeVito and Jim Carrey to play slightly toned-down versions of the Batman characters (The Penguin and The Riddler, respectively) that they portrayed in Batman Returns and Batman Forever, although something that I think would be even more awesome than that would be to see the iconic Burgess Merideth and Frank Gorshin bring to life variations on Carrey and DeVito's versions of the characters, either in a more serious take on the mythos of the old TV show, or within the context of Nolan's universe. Heck, it would be awesome to see Merideth and Gorshin bring their old 60s' TV series personas to life within the context of Nolan's universe.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Batman - George Clooney
Robin - Jerry Mathers
Batgirl - Lindsay Lohan
Alfred - David Niven
Aunt Harriet - Charlotte Rae
Commisioner Gordon - Powers Boothe

The Joker - Russell Brand
The Penguin - Gert Fröbe
Catwoman - Ava Gardner
The Riddler - Greg Kinnear
Mr. Freeze - Jeremy Irons
The Scarecrow - Ian McKellan
Poison Ivy - Marcia Cross
Harley Quinn - Nicole Sullivan
Zatanna - Catherine Zeta-Jones
Ra's Al Ghul - Vincent Price
Talia - Emmanuelle Vaugier
Bat-Mite - Verne Troyer

That's a nightmare cast.

Some of them aren't ideal, but I think they mostly capture the look and spirit of the characters.

Here's my list again with how I feel about my own casting...

Batman - George Clooney (Batman and Robin was awful, but Clooney is perfect)
Robin - Jerry Mathers (iffy, especially if you consider an older Jerry as Nightwing)
Batgirl - Lindsay Lohan (perfect)
Alfred - David Niven (almost perfect)
Aunt Harriet - Charlotte Rae (works, not a major character anyway)
Commisioner Gordon - Powers Boothe (not the best choice, other suggestions here are better)

The Joker - Russell Brand (iffy, Willem Dafoe is a better choice)
The Penguin - Gert Fröbe (perfect)
Catwoman - Ava Gardner (almost perfect)
The Riddler - Greg Kinnear (works pretty well)
Mr. Freeze - Jeremy Irons (perfect if he's bald)
The Scarecrow - Ian McKellan (works pretty well)
Poison Ivy - Marcia Cross (perfect)
Harley Quinn - Nicole Sullivan (perfect)
Zatanna - Catherine Zeta-Jones (works pretty well)
Ra's Al Ghul - Vincent Price (perfect)
Talia - Emmanuelle Vaugier (one of many who could work)
Bat-Mite - Verne Troyer (perfect)

 

[Agent Richard07]

For me, with the possible exception of Christian Bale, everyone in the Nolan-verse movies have essentially seared themselves into my mind as the iconic representations of the characters, so I won't even bother listing those characters.

What's funny is that his choices have been quite different from who'd expect or envision.

My dream scenario would be to see Christopher Nolan sort of pay homage to two of the four previous Batman films by bringing in Danny DeVito and Jim Carrey to play slightly toned-down versions of the Batman characters (The Penguin and The Riddler, respectively) that they portrayed in Batman Returns and Batman Forever, although something that I think would be even more awesome than that would be to see the iconic Burgess Merideth and Frank Gorshin bring to life variations on Carrey and DeVito's versions of the characters, either in a more serious take on the mythos of the old TV show, or within the context of Nolan's universe. Heck, it would be awesome to see Merideth and Gorshin bring their old 60s' TV series personas to life within the context of Nolan's universe.

I considered Ron Jeremy for The Penguin.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Batman - Christian Bale is hard to beat but I wonder what a young Gregory Peck or Burt Lancaster might have done with the role.

It's funny that was the first thing that popped in my head when I was thinking of historical choices. Not that would necessarily be my final answer but both those guys struck me initially.

 

[Aragorn]

My wild card Penguin would be... David Suchet.

 

[Thrall]

Batman - Young Alec Baldwin
Alfred - Alec Guiness
Robin - Joseph Gordon Levitt
Nightwing - James Marsden
Batgirl - Zhang Zhi Yi
Oracle - Rachel Nichols
Azrael - Alexander Skarsgård
Spoiler - Hillary Duff
Huntress - Eliza Dushku
Gordon - Kurt Russell
Bullock - Dennis Franz or James Gandolffini
Montoya - Michelle Rodriguez

The Joker - Jim Carrey
Harley Quinn - Britney Murphy
Scarecrow - Vincent Price
Penguin - Charles Laughton
Bane - The Rock
Killer Croc - Vin Diesel
The Riddler - Kevin Spacey
Catwoman - Rosario Dawson
Mr. Freeze - Patrick Stewart
Poison Ivy - Scarlet Johansen
Two-Face - Mel Gibson

 

[Captaindemotion]

You know who I think could have made an interesting, daring choice for the Joker in the 1989 movie?

Glenn Close.

Seriously. She's quite androgynous looking, as is The Joker. In Damages, she looks very like the Joker is often drawn. You can imagine her doing the voice. She can do mad, maniacal and evil. She can do funny. And it might add a whole level of subtext to the Batman Joker relationship.

Women have played men in movies before - Linda Hunt, in The Year of Living Dangerously, or Tilda Swinton (who could also probably do a good Joker).

Fanboys would have been up in arms, but I reckon her performance would have silenced them.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

Glenn Close would've made a good Queen of Hearts:

 

[TK421]

Batman = Kirk Douglas.

Douglas did most of his own stunts (The Vikings) and has Batman's comicbook profile.

 

[Out Of My Vulcan Mind]

I thought of Kirk Douglas for Two-Face. Come to think of it, he might have made a good Joker, too.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Frank Gorshin, the 1960s Riddler, used to do the greatest impression of Kirk Douglas.

I think Douglas would have been a better Two-Face than Batman. Given what a great onscreen pairing he and Burt Lancaster made, a Batman movie starring the athletic former circus performer Lancaster as The Dark Knight and Douglas as Two-Face would have been something to relish.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Speaking of The Dark Knight Returns, I know Clint Eastwood is always touted as the guy who should play him, but now at 70 (and if and when the graphic novel ever decidedly gets adapted, much older) I think that makes him a tad too old for the part. I always envisioned someone like Robert Redford as a DKR Bruce Wayne/Batman, or someone around that age bracket.

Give it a few more years and I think we could bring back Michael Keaton.

Comm Gordon - Another vote for Oldman but a younger Stacy Keach would also have been a good fit for the role.

Gary Oldman is a perfect young Jim Gordon but if they ever decided to go in an older direction, I think Stacy Keach would still work.

My dream scenario would be to see Christopher Nolan sort of pay homage to two of the four previous Batman films by bringing in Danny DeVito and Jim Carrey to play slightly toned-down versions of the Batman characters (The Penguin and The Riddler, respectively) that they portrayed in Batman Returns and Batman Forever

I can see what you're saying about Jim Carrey, although telling him to turn down the volume never really works well. But with Danny DeVito, I just can't separate him from a Penguin that is very specific to Tim Burton's universe. (And while I do very much enjoy the recent Chris Nolan films, I still have a great respect for Tim Burton's films. I think, ultimately, Batman & Gotham City don't belong in the real world. They belong inside a nightmarish gothic fantasy.)

I have such regard for the work of Tim Burton & Chris Nolan that I would probably pick a lot of their choices for the films. But for my own separate elseworlds:
Batman - Ben Browder
Barbara Gordon - Kristen Bell
Commissioner Gordon - Stacy Keach
The Joker - Mark Hamill
Ra's al-Ghul - David Warner
Harley Quinn - Nicole Sullivan
Catwoman - Angelina Jolie
Poison Ivy - Jeri Ryan
Two-Face - Robert Downey Jr.
Alfred Pennyworth - Jon Pertwee
The Riddler - My version is someone pretty young, like Adam Busch or Fran Kranz
Bane - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Killer Croc - Vin Diesel
Mr. Freeze - Jason Statham
Scarecrow - Brent Spiner
The Penguin - Burgess Meredith

 

[Gecko of Gorn]

Batman- Gabriel Byrne circa 1992.
Alfred- Peter O'Toole circa 1982.
Gordon- Gary Oldman.
Joker- Lee Marvin circa 1968.
Ra's- Sean Connery circa 1978.
Catwoman- Julie Christie circa 1967.
Scarecrow- Donald Sutherland circa 1975.
Penguin- Sydney Greenstreet circa 1940.

For a JL cameo:
Green Lantern/Hal Jordan: Paul Newman circa 1960.

 

[JacksonArcher]

You know, Borgified Corpse, I always thought a Tim Burton/Michael Keaton/Danny Elfman Dark Knight Returns movie could be stellar. Let Burton make it a psuedo sequel to Batman Returns and...

 

[The Comedian]

Noir version:
Batman: James Dean
Gordon: Humphrey Bogart
Joker: James Cagney
Two-Face: Edgar G. Robinson
Catwoman: Jane Russell

60's version:
Batman: James Caan
Gordon: Telly Savalas
Joker: Donald Sutherland
Catwoman: Natalie Wood
Two-Face: Gene Hackman