In 1995, Batman‘s trusty sidekick, Robin, made his debut in the third installment of Warner Bros.’s Batman film series, Batman Forever.
Though NCIS: Los Angeles star Chris O’Donnell played the young apprentice of Bruce Wayne/ the Caped Crusader, he actually wasn’t the original pick for the role. It turns out that actor Marlon Wayans was initially cast to play the Boy Wonder in the franchise’s second film, Batman Return, but producers ended up going in a different direction.
Because of this, Wayans was generously paid for his troubles and is still receiving checks from the film today.
Marlon Wayans was set to play Robin in Tim Burton’s ‘Batman Returns’
Michael Keaton’s Batman may have worked alone in the 1992 classic film, Batman Returns, but that wasn’t the original plan director Tim Burton had for the movie.
It turns out that Batman’s sidekick, Robin, was slated to make his first appearance in the superhero film, with Marlon Wayans prepared to play the iconic character had things not changed.
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Though it was only the beginning of his career in television and movies, Wayans was cast by Burton to play the vigilante sidekick. However, after the actor was cast and paid, producers decided to go in another direction and ousted Robin from the script.
According to Screen Rant, producers believed that the film had too many new characters to introduce — Catwoman, The Penguin, and Max Shreck — which is why they gave Robin the boot.
But despite being benched for Batman Returns, Robin ultimately made his grand debut in the franchise’s third installment, Batman Forever. This time, however, Wayans wasn’t the one playing the tight-wearing Boy Wonder.
Instead, director Joel Schumacher, who ended up replacing Burton, cast actor Chris O’Donnell to play the character in the 1995 superhero film.
Marlon Wayans says he still receives checks from the franchise
Even though he never got the chance to play Robin in the Batman films, Wayans was still paid a pretty penny for the movie he never even starred in.
While doing press rounds for his and Channing Tatum’s film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra back in 2009, the actor revealed during an interview with io9 that he still receives royalty checks from the franchise.
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“I was actually supposed to play Robin, in Batman Returns, about 15 years ago. But there was too many characters,” he said. “I was cast, I was paid and everything. I still get residual checks. Tim Burton didn’t wind up doing three, Joel Schumacher did it and he had a different vision for who Robin was. So he hired Chris O’ Donnell.”
According to Cinema Blend, the White Chicks star was paid $100,000 for Batman Returns. While Wayans hasn’t shared how much money he’s received from the movie throughout the years, we can assume that it’s a sizable amount being added to his $40 million net worth.
Though it would have been fun to see the youngest Wayans brother wearing tights while fighting crime alongside Keaton, at least he got paid without having to do anything.
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