Quaid’s “Oppenheimer” co-star Cillian Murphy starred as crazed scientist Scarecrow in Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins” and subsequent two sequels, “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.” Quaid revealed to Thrillist that he had an out-of-body comic book fan experience watching the new “Batman” in theaters alongside Murphy. “I’m like, ‘Cool. I get to see ‘Batman’ with Cillian Murphy,’” Quaid said. “But then it dawned on me: Scarecrow just asked me if I wanted to see ‘Batman.’” A longtime Nolan collaborator, Murphy appeared in the full “Dark Knight” trilogy, as well as Nolan’s “Inception” and upcoming “Oppenheimer,” with Murphy portraying the titular father of the atom bomb who led the Manhattan Project in World War II. Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh also star in the ensemble historical period piece, in theaters July 21, 2023.
And while Murphy may have hung up his Scarecrow mask, fellow “Dark Knight” alum Christian Bale teased that his version of Bruce Wayne could be back in action if director Nolan was up for a fourth installment. “I had a pact with Chris Nolan,” Bale told Screen Rant about the trilogy, which concluded in 2012. “We said, ‘Hey, look. Let’s make three films, if we’re lucky enough to get to do that. And then let’s walk away. Let’s not linger too long.’ In my mind, it would be something if Chris Nolan ever said to himself, ‘You know what, I’ve got another story to tell.’ And if he wished to tell that story with me, I’d be in.” Bale still hasn’t seen Reeves’ “The Batman” with Robert Pattinson behind the wheel of the Batmobile. Reeves’ sequel is already in the works as confirmed by Warner Bros. earlier this year. All roads lead back to Nolan, though, as Pattinson had to sneak off set of Nolan’s “Tenet” to screen test for “The Batman.” “It’s funny because Chris is so secretive about everything to do with his movies,” Pattinson previously told The Irish Times of production overlaps. “And then I had to be really secretive about ‘Batman’ stuff. So I had to lie to Chris about having to go for a screen test — I said I had a family emergency. And as soon as I said ‘it’s a family emergency’ he said: ‘You’re doing the Batman audition, aren’t you?’.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
