Article by Max Byrne
Live-action depictions of Robin have been few and far between on the cinema screen. In an interesting twist this week, actor Taye Diggs has revealed that he was in the running to play the Boy Wonder on the big screen in a undisclosed Batman movie.
During an interview with Black Hollywood Live, Diggs was asked if there was ever a role he was close to getting, but ultimately did not get.
I don’t know… you know, agents these days. Because sometimes they do say, “It’s a shortlist. You’re on a shortlist.'” I remember there was a minute when, um… oh, I wanted this so bad; when they were considering Batman, in Batman, the Robin being Black. I know Marlon Wayans was right there… and you know, this is just what they tell you. But I feel like I might have been on that. That would have been great. That would have been awesome. I’m still waiting to be a superhero,I gotta figure that out… I still wanna do that. So, we’ll see.
Diggs didn’t disclose which specific Batman movie he was in the frame for, but the smart money would suggest that it would have been Batman Returns, due to him mentioning Marlon Wayans by name. Wayans was originally cast as Robin in the 1992 movie whilst it was in its early stages of development, but the role was later cut from the script to trim down the number of major characters appearing in the already crowded film.
The concept of an African-American Robin would have been intriguing to see on film, putting a fresh and diverse twist on a much beloved character. It may still come to fruition at a future date, which I would welcome as a new interpretation.
Would you have liked to see Diggs as Robin back in the 90s, or is there another actor you would have liked to see don the cape at that time? Let us know in the comments.