Bill Murray Reveals Why He Turned Down Batman's Role

Bill Murray recalled why he refused to play Batman's character in director Ivan Reitman's movie, which eventually was never made.

The 71-year-old actor revealed that actor Eddie Murphy wanted to play Batman in that movie because of which he turned down the role. Moreover, he explained that he didn't see himself in Robin's character, who plays the sidekick of Batman.

"I talked to Eddie Murphy about it and Eddie wanted to play Batman. That’s as far as the conversation went…I don't wanna be the Boy Wonder to anybody," Murray told Yahoo Entertainment Tuesday. "Maybe much earlier, when I was a boy. But it was too late for that by the '80s."

Aside from the lead role, the actor also commented on the outfit color that looked like Santa's elves to him.

"Also, I couldn't do the outfit. Eddie looks good in purple, and I look good in purple," he added. "In red and green, I look like one of Santa's elves. There was just a lot of vanity involved in the production. It wasn't gonna happen."

After Murray refused to work in the Batman movie, Reitman worked with him together in a comedy fantasy movie, "Ghostbusters," which was dropped in 1984.

A reboot of Batman's franchise, "The Batman," was released in theaters on March 4 and it will start streaming on HBO Max from April 19. Robert Pattinson played Batman while Zoë Kravitz portrayed Catwoman. Batman was first introduced in Detective Comics #27 on March 30, 1939.

On the work front, Murray will be next seen in the war drama, "The Greatest Beer Run Ever" helmed by director Peter Farrelly. The movie is based on Joanna Molloy's novel of the same name. The flick also features Zac Efron, Russell Crowe, Will Ropp and Ruby Ashbourne Serkis.

Apple TV+ dropped the first look of the movie on Twitter Tuesday.

The actor will also feature in the romantic comedy movie, "Asteroid City," starring Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Margot Robbie, and Tilda Swinton.

The actor will also make his first Marvel movie appearance in "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which is slated to release on July 28, 2023.