BeforeRobert Downey Jr.became the face of theMarvel Cinematic Universe, he once jockeyed forCillian Murphy’s role inChristopher Nolan’s Batman movies.
At a recent Q&A at Los Angeles' American Cinematheque theater, Downey Jr., 58, confirmed that he once met with hisOppenheimerdirector Nolan, 53, about playing the villain Scarecrow in 2005’sBatman Begins.
“And he was polite and all that,” Downey Jr. added of meeting with Nolan years beforeOppenheimer. “But you can tell when someone is kind of like, ‘It’s not going to go anywhere.'”
Murphy, 47, won the Scarecrow role oppositeChristian Bale’s Bruce Wayne / Batman after Murphy initially auditioned to play Batman himself ahead ofBatman Begins. Murphy shared during a July 2023 appearance on theWTF with Marc Maronthat both he and Nolan quickly felt he “was wrong for” the Batman role.
Christian Bale and Cillian Murphy in 2005’s Batman Begins.Alamy
Alamy
“But I did the test, and then he saw something in that and cast me as Scarecrow [inBatman Begins] and we continued on making movies,” he shared at the time.
Murphy appeared as Scarecrow — a psychologist in Gotham City who uses various gases to induce fear within his victims — in all three of Nolan’s Batman movies. Their collaboration kicked off further work between the two; Murphy also played a pivotal role in in 2011’sInceptionprior tofinally taking a leading rolefor Nolan inOppenheimer.
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“Ihave always said publiclyand privately, to Chris, that if I’m available and you want me to be in a movie, I’m there. I don’t really care about the size of the part,” Murphy told theAssociated Pressabout working with Nolan back in May. “But deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him.”
Downey Jr.’s journey toward working with Nolan also came full circle more than a decade after he did not land a role inBatman Begins. Downey Jr. first played Tony Stark in 2008’sIron Manand led the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the next decade before appearing inOppenheimer.The movie is just his second feature film role since 2019’sAvengers: Endgame.
source: people.com
