The Dark Knight: Cillian Murphy's Batman Voice Has Twitter Turning On Christian Bale

It's difficult to deny Christian Bale's enduring legacy as The Dark Knight. An entire generation of cinephiles and DC fans grew up watching Bale populate the big screen as Batman in Christopher Nolan's iconic "The Dark Knight" trilogy. Operating as the character for nearly a decade, Bale rose to prominence after he first put the cape and cowl on for 2005's "Batman Begins," which gave the titular character a gritty, grounded reboot. Both Nolan and Bale revolutionized the character and the public's perception of the superhero genre, forcing naysayers to realize that comic book flicks were more than cinematic just vehicles to sell toys. 

And with "The Dark Knight," Bale gave the performance of a lifetime, cementing himself as one of the world's most notable and recognizable actors. Now, Bale is an Oscar-winning chameleon, a thespian who casually oscillates between loud blockbuster outings and auteur-driven projects. But there exists a reality where Nolan gave the role of Batman to Cillian Murphy instead of Bale. It's not entirely unimaginable to understand what that world could have looked like. 

When it came to casting the titular character for "Batman Begins," Nolan roped in several actors to perform screen tests, both as the costumed Dark Knight and the boisterous Bruce Wayne. While Bale ended up nabbing the role, fans of Murphy on social media are impressed with the "Oppenheimer" actor's performance, particularly praising his voice as The Caped Crusader. "Re-release 'The Dark Knight' trilogy with Cillian Murphy dubbing over Christian Bale's Batman voice," suggested Twitter user @RichardOcelot. Some DC fans, like @batkitto wish that Murphy got the role entirely, saying, "are u telling me we got christian "WHERE'S RACHEL" bale over this?? [...] i love those movies a lot, the only way they could've been better is if cillian played batman." 

While Christian Bale ultimately got the role of a lifetime, most fans on social media think that Cillian Murphy's Batman voice is far superior than Bale's. "You're telling me we almost got a good voice for The Nolan Batman films," pondered Twitter user @TurboStunkk. As celebrated as Bale's performance as Batman is, one common complaint he's received is his gargle-heavy, scrambled voice as The Dark Knight. It's a distinctive creative choice, one that makes Batman's aura genuinely bone-chilling and terrifying. However, many fans have found issues with Bale's voice, finding it unintelligible and almost comical at times. 

If you don't like Bale's Batman voice, don't blame franchise director Christopher Nolan, as he explains that it was the British actor's decision to make The Dark Knight sound like that. While appearing in a behind-the-scenes extra released with "The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector's Edition" (via Polygon), Nolan opened up about how Bale's distinctive Batman voice played a part in getting him the role. "So it's about feeling and a voice, and I think Christian's voice was a big part of the impression he made in the test," the director explained. "He decided that Batman needed to have a different voice than Bruce Wayne; he needed to put on a voice that supported the visual appearance of the character." Bale's voice certainly fits the visual appearance of the gritty iteration of Batman, but some are still far more impressed with Murphy's Dark Knight voice. 

"His batman feels very [Kevin] Conroy esque to me, which is really great and the ideal for me but also not what Nolan would want," said user @LegoKingo. While Murphy's Batman voice has some fans pleased, the Irish actor believes it's best that the role went to Bale. 

While chatting with GQ to promote "Oppenheimer," Cillian Murphy was asked about how he didn't get the Batman gig. For Murphy, who is receiving considerable acclaim as the titular character in Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer," losing out on the "The Dark Knight" role to Bale is not that big of a deal. "Yes, I think it was for the best because we got Christian Bale's performance, which is a stunning interpretation of that role," Murphy explained. He continued by saying the he never believed he was physically right for the role of Batman, saying, "To me, it was always going to be Christian Bale." 

Nolan also knew the role of Batman was Bale's early on. While chatting up "Oppenheimer" in a piece with Entertainment Weekly, "Dark Knight" franchise steward Nolan explained to Murphy that the role was never his to begin with. Despite that, Nolan was intrigued by Murphy and was interested in conducting a screen test with him. Why? So it would give execs an opportunity to envision Murphy as the Scarecrow. "Everybody was so excited by watching you perform that when I then said to them, 'Okay, Christian Bale is Batman, but what about Cillian to play Scarecrow?' there was no dissent," Nolan revealed. "That was a big leap for them and it really was purely on the basis of that test. So that's how [Cillian Murphy] got to play Scarecrow." 

And the rest is history. Bale is Batman, Murphy is the Scarecrow, and all is right with the world, and some fans agree. "Cillian's portrayal of scarecrow as more than just a 'monster with gas' [...] It humanized the character and was much more believable," shared DC fan @jpizzle_dm.