Batman’s Biggest Missed Opportunity Was Trading the Horror Royalty of ‘Lord of the Rings’ for David Warner’s Ra’s al Ghul
Irrespective of the medium, Batman’s rogues gallery has always been an integral part of his mythos, and has heavily contributed to his status as one of the most iconic fictional heroes in media. And among all the iterations, barring comics, Batman: The Animated Series is highly considered the blueprint for Gotham’s underbelly, including Ra’s al Ghul.
Although it’s hard to imagine anyone other than David Warner in the shoes of Ra’s in the revered series, prior to incorporating Warner in the role, legendary actor Sir Christopher Lee was initially in line to helm Ra’s voice.
Sir Christopher Lee missed out on voicing Ra’s al Ghul due to scheduling conflicts
While David Warner’s iteration of Ra’s in Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, and Batman: Beyond is nothing less than perfection, it’s safe to say Sir Christopher Lee, too, would’ve been a great match. As for why the deal didn’t close, it ultimately boiled down to scheduling conflicts, which is not surprising given the late actor’s status in showbiz at the time.
Elaborating on it, casting director Andrea Romano recalled that even though Sir Lee didn’t outright reject the proposal, “it’s just that we could never work the schedule out”.
She detailed (via Bleeding Cool):
It wasn’t that he said no to me, because I did make him some offers, it’s just that we could never work the schedule out. He would have been an awesome Ra’s al Ghul. He would have been a beautiful voice for that. But, David Warner was stunning, just really terrific, so I was glad to have David.
But given Warner’s brilliance, who has cemented himself as the definitive voice of Ra’s, Romano didn’t lose her sleep over losing The Lord of the Rings star from the role of Ra’s al Ghul.
Sir Christopher Lee isn’t the only actor who missed out on Ra’s al Ghul
Interestingly, Sir Christopher Lee isn’t alone in the list of actors who missed out on playing one of Batman’s most ruthless foes. Having headlined Christopher Nolan‘s Memento, Guy Pearce was originally envisioned as the potential choice of Ra’s al Ghul, aka Henri Ducard, in Batman Begins.
But in contrast to Nolan’s preference, WB execs weren’t too thrilled about bringing in The Brutalist star, and even before Pearce could’ve discussed the role with Nolan, the decision was already made (via Variety).
They flew me out to London to discuss the role, but I think it was decided during my flight that I wasn’t going to be in the movie. When I got there, Chris greeted me warmly and showed me the Batmobile. We ended up having dinner, but the decision had already been made.
With the DCU set to go on full swing with Superman this year, hopefully, we’ll witness Ra’s al Ghul in his full glory, which will be more in line with Batman: The Animated Series‘ fantastical tone than being grounded in reality.
Batman: The Animated Series is now available to stream on Max (USA).
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