Which Batman films did Damon audition as Robin for?
It might come off as a surprise, but Damon has flirted with roles in a Batman film for decades now. Mind you, we’re not just talking about his potential role as Harvey Dent in 2008’s The Dark Knight from Christopher Nolan, which ultimately went to Aaron Eckhart. In a recent interview, the Bourne films actor revealed that he auditioned to take on the role of Robin in two separate Batman movies earlier in his career, which is ironic considering that his childhood friend, Ben Affleck, was later cast to take on the role of Batman in the DCEU. Damon explained that he tried out for the part in 1989’s Batman by Tim Burton and 1995’s Batman Forever by Joel Schumacher. Unfortunately, in both cases, Damon’s hopes of being part of a superhero film were dashed. In the case of 1989’s Batman, the character of Robin was eventually dropped after being in early drafts of the script. The part ultimately went to Marlon Wayans, who was reportedly paid $100,000 to play the role of Boy Wonder in 1992’s Batman Returns, even though he never appeared in the film after the studio told Burton that the sequel no longer had any room for Wayans’ Robin. The most interesting part here is that 1995’s Batman Forever has a long list of actors who could have potentially played Robin. He now joins the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale, Jude Law, and Mark Wahlberg. Not to sound too harsh, but all of these actors went on to enjoy much more successful careers compared to the actor who was cast to play the part of Robin. As for why Damon was passed on for the role of Robin in both films, one could argue that it is the result of his relative anonymity at the time. Damon wasn’t a big name until well after Good Will Hunting, a movie that he and Affleck co-wrote and sold to Castle Rock Entertainment for more than $600,000. Since then, Damon has enjoyed a stellar career. He’s starred in numerous other films, including as Jason Bourne in the Bourne film series, along with other roles that have led to him building a net worth of roughly $170 million. He’s set to star in Stillwater and The Last Duel, the latter of which is another film that he co-wrote with his good friend, Ben Affleck, as well as Nicole Holofcener. You can watch the video clip of Damon talking about Batman Forever below:
Listen for free here: https://t.co/cquNdgIiDm Or watch the whole thing at https://t.co/e84WokCDhq pic.twitter.com/XNNdkYYiWX — Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz) July 29, 2021
