Marlon Wayans Explains What Happened to His Robin in ‘Batman Forever’

Marlon Wayans is currently promoting his new stand-up special “Wokish,” and while appearing in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon the actor and comedian reminded fans that he actually has a significant place in Batman movie history!

As Wayans once again explains in the interview, ‘what had happened was…’ he auditioned for Batman franchise director Tim Burton, and was cast in the role of Robin (presumably after the first film – the exact timeline isn’t explained). Wayans goes on to explain that between the addition of characters like Penguin and Catwoman in Batman Returns, and the replacement of Burton with Joel Schumacher for Batman Forever, his version of Robin was dropped, and recast as the Chris O’Donnell version.

Wayans also joked about the version of Robin he would play. With some not so subtle racial implications, Marlon describes a version of Robin that would’ve been “Batman’s black sidekick,” left doing hokey shtick like Burt Ward’s version from the ’60s Batman TV series.

You can listen to Marlon Wayans describe the situation in full, in the video below:

It’s still crazy to think of Tim Burton completing an entire Batman trilogy, and the world being spared the Schumacher era that nearly ended the franchise. Of course, the thought of a Marlon Wayans playing Robin doesn’t exactly fill one with confidence that Burton’s version of things would’ve been all that much better. Considering what the director moved on to in the late ’90s (that infamously weird and failed Superman Lives movie with Nic Cage), it’s probably best that his run ended with Batman Returns. Even that sequel film has become something of a debated topic, with some fans swearing it, too, was a low point for the franchise.

Right now the future of the Robin character in live-action is pretty unclear. Like so many things over at DC Films, there’s been long-standing word of a Nightwing movie involving the Dick Grayson character, while Jason Todd’s story of being murdered by The Joker is already a big part of the DCEU mythos. There’s no telling what Matt Reeves The Batman will approach the issue of Robin, so these stories of what could’ve been are the most exciting thing we have to talk about.

The theatrical cut of Justice League is now available on Digital HD and hits Blu-ray on March 13th with deleted scenes. The DC Extended Universe continues with Aquaman on December 21st, Shazam on April 5, 2019, Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019, Cyborg in 2020, and Green Lantern Corps in 2020.