Many great names in Hollywood have starred in Batman films over the years. Although Robert Pattinson is the latest actor to don the Dark Knight’s cape, several big names actors have taken on the role through the years, including Michael Keaton, George Clooney, even Ben Affleck.
But, a surprising discovery has just been made.
In the early 1980s, director Ivan Reitman planned to cast Saturday Night Live star Eddie Murphy as the capped vigilante in a never-made Batman feature film.
Fellow 'SNL' alum Bill Murray made this revelation during a recent interview
While recently speaking with Yahoo! Entertainment, Bill Murray shared that Eddie Murphy almost played the famed superhero.
“I talked to Eddie Murphy about it, and Eddie wanted to play Batman. That’s as far as that conversation went,” Murray said during the interview.
Meanwhile, the Ghostbusters star had been tapped to star as Batman’s sidekick, Robin, a character he wasn’t too keen on playing.
“I don’t wanna be the Boy Wonder to anybody,” Murray shared. “Maybe much earlier when I was a boy. But it was too late for that by the ’80s. Also, I couldn’t do the outfit. Eddie looks good in purple, and I look good in purple. In red and green, I look like one of Santa’s elves. There was just a lot of vanity involved in the production. It wasn’t gonna happen.”
Fans have mixed emotions about this never-made Batman film
As reported by Atlanta Black Star, after learning of this never-made Batman film, many fans took to social media to share their thoughts on Eddie Murphy and Bill Murray almost playing the dynamic superhero duo.
One fan tweeted, “Whoa. I never knew this could’ve been a thing and…THANK GOODNESS IT DID NOT HAPPEN. whew. Bullet dodged.”
Meanwhile, others are pretty bummed that this film never happened.
“There is an alternate universe that exists where Ivan Reitman made his #Batman movie with Bill Murray as the Bat and Eddie Murphy as Robin and it’s a real bummer I don’t live in that universe. I bet that universe version of me loved it,” another Twitter user wrote.
Executive producer Michael Uslan believe things happen for a reason
Although a Batman film starring Eddie Murphy and Bill Murray never happened, executive producer Michael Uslan, who produced every Batman film since 1979, has confirmed the comedian’s story.
According to Uslan, Ivan Reitman’s goal was to make Batman a huge success in theaters, telling Yahoo! Entertainment, “Things are meant to happen, and they happen.”
