Actor and stand-up comedian Marlon Wayans is known for his sitcom, The Wayans Bros. and films like Little Man and White Chicks. The actor is also known for his appearances in the Scary Movie franchise. While known mostly for his comedic roles, the actor also tried his hand at drama with Darren Aronofsky’s harrowing drama, Requiem for a Dream.
One of the most interesting bits of trivia for the comic and actor was that he was signed onto play Robin in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns. The dark sequel to 1989’s Batman initially planned to introduce Robin to the franchise, and Wayans would have a larger role in the threequel. However, plans reportedly fell through, and Wayans never played the role.
Marlon Wayans Was Supposed To Play Robin in Batman Returns
Before Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy changed the superhero genre, the previous iteration of Batman by Tim Burton also impacted the genre in many ways. For starters, the Michal Keaton starrer Batman was a much darker portrayal of the superhero, as the previous versions were more kid-friendly.
However, Batman was a huge commercial success and earned over $411 million at the box office. The studio commissioned a sequel immediately, and Tim Burton began working on Batman Returns along with screenwriter Sam Hamm. While Hamm planned to follow the story of Harvey Dent and his descent to becoming Two-Face, the studio reportedly wanted Penguin as the antagonist.
Hamm and Burton had also reportedly planned to introduce Robin in the film. Hence, Marlon Wayans was signed for the role. Wayans had gained fame for his appearances on the sketch comedy show In Living Color, where he appeared along with his siblings. Marlon Wayans mentioned in an interview with io9 that he had signed on to play the role,
“I was actually supposed to play Robin, in Batman Returns, about 15 years ago. But there was too many characters. I was cast, I was paid, and everything. I still get residual checks. Tim Burton didn’t wind up doing three, Joel Schumacher did it and he had a different vision of who Robin was. So he hired Chris O’Donnell.”
Tim Burton reportedly decided against introducing Robin as Batman Returns already contained The Penguin, Catwoman, and Max Shrek. Hence, Marlon Wayans never appeared in the films.
Marlon Wayans Still Gets Paid For Batman Returns
Though Marlon Wayans never got to play Batman’s sidekick in the Burtonverse, he reportedly earned a good paycheck for the role. The actor was reportedly signed for a three-picture deal and was paid $100,000. However, the actor never got to appear in the films, despite Robin being introduced in the threequel Batman Forever.
Wayans also mentioned that he still received residual checks for the role despite not appearing in Batman Returns or the subsequent films made by Joel Schumacher. The director chose to go in a different direction for his films and cast the then-upcoming star, Chris O’Donnell. The actor also had a more prominent role in the disastrous Batman and Robin.
When asked if he found the botched deal a blessing in disguise due to the terrible review received by Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, Marlon Wayans was diplomatic and joked about O’Donnell. He told io9,
“No, look — I get why they picked Chris O’Donnell, because it would be messed up to have Batman and you’ve got Robin, and his bulge is somewhat bigger than Batman’s. Batman would have a serious problem with that.”
Marlon Wayans finally got to see his version of Robin in the comic book series Batman ‘89. The limited series was written by Sam Hamm and was reportedly an alternative continuation of Tim Burton’s films.
