The news of Robert Downey Jr. bringing Iron Man to the next iteration of Spider-Man was met with great enthusiasm toward the end of the week. But like in most sports trades, to get something good, you have to give up something good too and that seems to be the case for Marvel’s first foray into bringing Spidey to the screen.
While Downey’s presence will add some extra oomph to the Spider-Man movie, his addition to the cast means that Michael Keaton, who was being courted to play the villain in the project, is no longer an option. Deadline reported that Keaton is no longer in talks for the project, and Variety film reporter Justin Kroll shed a bit more light on the situation on Twitter.
Couple quick notes on the the RDJ casting/Keaton loss
— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) April 22, 2016
First was hearing early in week Keaton was falling a part because couldn't afford him
— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) April 22, 2016
Heard they needed money first for Downey who only recently was pursued for part in film
— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) April 22, 2016
Ah, so the almighty dollar is behind the decision, eh? This seems a bit strange considering that Marvel basically prints its own currency and likely could have met any demand Keaton may have made, no matter how extravagant. Or maybe Keaton just decided that his comic book movie days really were behind him. Now nearly 25 years removed from playing Batman, the Oscar-nominated actor did make a movie just a couple years ago that in part both sent up that entire period in his life and displayed him as pretty damaged from it as well.
Of course, Birdman wasn’t a biography of Michael Keaton. But the reports of his involvement with Marvel always felt a little fishy and this news proves that maybe it really was.
(via Deadline)
