With all the other craziness going on in 1997’s Batman & Robin, it’s easy to overlook the fact that rapper Coolio had a cameo appearance in the movie. In case you missed it, that’s him playing the “banker” that Barbara (Alicia Silverstone) pays to participate in the motorcycle race.
Just after Robin (Chris O’Donnell) sneaks his way in from the shadows, Coolio can be seen firing the gun that signifies the beginning of the competition. Check out the scene for yourself below.
On the surface, it might seem like a random cameo from a rapper who was at the height of his success at the time. However, during a 2017 interview, Coolio revealed that there was a little bit more to the story.
According to him, the only reason he agreed to be in Batman & Robin was because he was promised the role of the Scarecrow in the next Batman movie. In the end, Coolio didn’t feel like he missed out since he apparently didn’t get along too well with director Joel Schumacher.
Coolio’s ‘Batman & Robin’ Cameo Was Apparently Meant to Lead Somewhere Much Stranger
For his part, Schumacher said that he went out of his way to try and get another actor to play the Scarecrow in the unproduced sequel. While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in 2015, Schumacher explained that he’d actually gone to visit Nicolas Cage on the set of Face/Off to gauge his interest. But even though a script—entitled Batman Unchained—had been written by I Am Legend scribe Mark Protosevich, the poor reception of Batman & Robin ultimately led to the project’s cancellation.
There were a few other interesting ideas proposed before the plug was officially pulled on Batman Unchained, though. For example, the possibility of Courtney Love playing Harley Quinn was floated at one point. The studio also wanted the film to feature cameos from all of the villains from the previous Batman movies.
To be clear, that would’ve included Jack Nicholson reprising his role as the Joker, along with Danny DeVito as the Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, Jim Carrey as the Riddler, and Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face.
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