Cillian Murphy's screen test for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins is making the rounds on the Internet again – all thanks to Oppenheimer, of course.
The full clip, which you can watch here, sees Murphy both in the suit and as Bruce Wayne. His Batman voice is in a similar, husky tone to Bale's, but some fans have gone out of their way to Murphy's better. Either way, there were many opinions.
"Cillian would not have made a good Batman, sorry. It would have been Val Kilmer all over again," one person tweeted.
"Murphy I think would have been more in the vein of Michael Keaton I think. A more unconventional take on Bruce," tweeted another.
"His Batman feels very Conroy-esque to me, which is really great and the ideal for me, but also not what Nolan would want," someone else said.
Many concluded that Murphy could have been a good Batman, but that he was an incredibly terrifying Scarecrow – and was better suited for the villain role. Both Murphy and Nolan agree.
"When we had our first conversation I think both of us knew that you weren’t going to wind up playing Batman," Nolan said in a conversation with both Murphy and Entertainment Weekly. "But I really wanted to get on set with you, I wanted to get you on film. We did those screen tests very elaborately, on 35mm, with a little set. There was just an electric atmosphere in the crew when you started to perform."
Cillian Murphy says Christian Bale getting cast as #Batman over him was 'for the best' 🦇"We got Christian Bale's performance, which is a stunning interpretation of that role. I never considered myself as the right physical specimen for Batman. To me, it was always going to be… pic.twitter.com/J6w9vzj27cJuly 25, 2023
"We got Christian Bale's performance, which is a stunning interpretation of that role," Murphy recently told GQ. "I never considered myself as the right physical specimen for Batman. To me, it was always going to be Christian Bale."
Oppenheimer is out now in cinemas. For more on the movie, check out the rest of our coverage:
- Our interview with Christopher Nolan on crafting Oppenheimer
- Christopher Nolan on Oppenheimer's R-rating
- Christopher Nolan on Oppenheimer's blockbuster status
- Our interview with Cillian Murphy
- Our interview with Matt Damon
- Our interview with Emily Blunt
- Robert Downey Jr. is at his best in Oppenheimer
