In the enigmatic realm of Hollywood collaborations, the dynamic duo of actor Cillian Murphy and esteemed filmmaker Christopher Nolan comes out as a source of deep fascination and respect. Murphy is recognized for his compelling performances, notably as the iconic Scarecrow in Batman Begins and J. Robert Oppenheimer in Nolan’s latest project.
While Murphy missed out on playing Bruce Wayne in Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, he left his mark on Gotham City as Dr. Jonathan Crane, also known as Scarecrow. It is one of the best villain performances in recent memory. However, in a recent video, Robert Downey Jr., Murphy’s Oppenheimer co-star revealed that he met with Nolan for the Scarecrow role but lost to Cillian Murphy.
Robert Downey Jr. Reveals He Tried to Get Scarecrow’s Role, But Lost to Cillian Murphy
Two decades ago, during the audition process for Christopher Nolan’s 2005 superhero film Batman Begins, Cillian Murphy, who was originally vying for the role of Bruce Wayne, played the terrifying Dr. Jonathan starred as Crane, also known as the Scarecrow. Despite being a relatively lesser-known actor at the time, Murphy’s portrayal of the Scarecrow drew attention, followed by an appearance in The Dark Knight and in The Dark Knight Rises.
Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr. revealed in a recently shared video that he approached Christopher Nolan to play Scarecrow but apparently lost out to Murphy. Robert Downey Jr., who is best known for playing Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recently spoke about his meeting with Christopher Nolan at a panel at the American Cinematheque event.
Per the new video shared by Griffin Schiller on X, Downey said Nolan was polite, though he didn’t seem particularly interested in their conversation. The role eventually went to Cillian Murphy.
Marvel and DC Should Thank Christopher Nolan for This
The role went to Murphy, and he made a return as the villain in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. And he captivated audiences for a long time. On the other hand, Downey Jr. also found his success in this genre as he landed the role of Tony Stark in Iron Man, released three years after Batman Begins.
It was the role that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And both Marvel and DC fans should be grateful to Nolan for this.
Thank goodness Christopher Nolan turned down Robert Downey Jr. for Scarecrow. He was meant to be Iron Man.
— Woodland🔋⚡️📈🌎☀️ (@Woodland_00) February 4, 2024
Worked out well for both of them
— JBond 🍌 (@jbondwagon) February 4, 2024
Ironically the incursion event that led to a decade of the greatest superhero films of all time.
— Komrade + Kommander (@KMNDR_) February 4, 2024
And now they'll likely both be Oscar winners in the same Nolan film.
— Eric Hovland (@EricJHovland) February 4, 2024
thank god we live in this timeline where he plays ironman instead and batman begins is good pic.twitter.com/7TiSbfKiY0
— kizsito ® 💫 (@kizsito) February 4, 2024
Batman Begins is currently streaming on Max and Peacock.
