Eddie Murphy As The Riddler? We Fact Check This Rumour

Last Updated on: 24 December, 2019 | 4:58 AM

When it comes to comedy, Eddie Murphy is one of the best. But what might surprise his fans is that once upon a time Eddie Murphy was rumoured to play the Batman villain Riddler. Can you guess the Batman movie? If your answer is Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy or more specifically, The Dark Knight Rises, then you would be right. If you are as astonished as we are, then read on to know more.

Also we think that Robert Pattinson is a pretty perfect Batman. We also kinda made a video to help convince y’all as well:

Eddie Murphy Was Once Rumoured For Riddler

Eddie Murphy was once rumoured to play The Riddler. Yeah we are kinda confused too. Pic courtesy: complex.com

In December 2008 after Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight appeared opposite Heath Ledger’s Joker and Aaron Eckhart’s Two-Face in The Dark Knight, then a new rumor began. British Tabloid The Sun claimed that Murphy was being eyed for Riddler in Batman 3. But that’s not all The Sun reported in regards to Batman 3’s casting choices. Reports also claimed that Transformers star Shia LaBeouf was attached to play Robin and that The Mummy star Rachel Weisz was going to play Catwoman.

None of the above came to be as we all know it now. But a sidekick of sorts did make it into The Dark Knight Rises or Batman 3 of the Nolan Batman trilogy. We did see that Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Gotham police officer John “Robin” Blake, ultimately inherited the Batcave and other Bat-toys from the believed-dead Batman.

Was Eddie Murphy Ever In The List For Riddler?

Eddie Murphy as the Riddler- was there any truth to this rumour? Pic courtesy: ew.com

Eddie Murphy’s representative said to Access Hollywood before Christmas 2008 that the rumor wasn’t true at all. Eddie Murphy again debunked the rumour in June 2009 during Conan O’Brien’s short-lived tenure as host of The Tonight Show. He said:

“I heard that rumor as well. I don’t know anything about it. Whoever is really playing the Riddler is sitting home calling his agent, going: ‘We gotta have this rumor stopped. I would love to be in one of these Batman movies. Jim Carrey did the Riddler once and he did a wonderful job. They did the Riddler and they did the Penguin and they’ve done Mr. Freeze and they did the Joker. I could be Egghead.”

How can a comedian leave without cracking some jokes. After ending his comment with Egghead, Eddie Murphy mimicked Vincent Price’s Egghead in the 1960s Batman television show. That 60’s Batman starred Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin. Eddie Murphy said:

“Eggcelent. Eggsquisite. They’ll never crack this hard boiled case!”

Recently, while promoting his Netflix original movie Dolemite Is My Name earlier this month, Eddie Murphy was asked again if he wanted to play a superhero since superhero movies are all the rage now. But Murphy said to Indiewire that:

“I’m going to be 60 in a year. Man, f— that. I can’t be standing around in a movie with a stick and s—, pointing and telling people, ‘Oh, you should do this or that.’ I’m just not down with the whole superhero movie thing. But, if I had to, I guess I could play a villain or some s— like that.”

While Eddie Murphy never did play The Riddler and neither was The Riddler ever in Nolan’s Batman trilogy, but that’s not true for Matt Reeve’s upcoming The Batman. Paul Dano is already selected to play The Riddler there opposite Robert Pattinson’s Batman. Dano’s role marks the first time Riddler has appeared in a live-action Batman movie since Batman Forever in 1995. We can bet that Dano’s version, if nothing else, is going to be better than Jim Carrey’s version.

(Source: comicbook.com and batman-news.com)

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