Imagine Batman Begins with Robert Downey Jr. as Scarecrow. It sounds like it easily could've happened.

The Iron Man actor discussed playing the role in Batman Begins with director Christopher Nolan, Deadline reports. But…it was not to be.

Robert Downey Jr. reveals he wanted the role of Scarecrow

Jr. revealed this during a Q&A after an Oppenheimer screening in Los Angeles at the Aero Theater. A video shared by Griffin Schiller on X shows the actor talking about wanting the part and more.

The actor said, “I'm pretty sure that I heard like, ‘There's this role, Scarecrow,' and I was like, ‘psh, I'm Scarecrow.”

He added, “I remember meeting for tea, and I was like, ‘He doesn't seem like he's really leaning in on this interview.' And he was polite and all that, but I mean, you know, you can tell when someone is kind of like, ‘It's not gonna go your way.'”

Of course, Cillian Murphy ultimately lands the part.

How Cillian Murphy got the role of Scarecrow

In an ET interview from May 2023, Nolan discussed the part with Murphy.

The director said, “When we had our first conversation, I think both of us knew that you weren't going to wind up playing Batman. But I really wanted to get on set with you, I wanted to get you on film. We did those screen tests very elaborately, on 35mm, with a little set. There was just an electric atmosphere in the crew when you started to perform. We did two scenes — there was a Bruce Wayne scene and a Batman scene — and I made sure that executives came down and watched what you were doing on set.”

When it came to Murphy being the Scarecrow, he said, “‘Okay, Christian Bale is Batman, but what about Cillian to play Scarecrow?' there was no dissent.”

Though Robert Downey Jr. didn't get the part, he's doing fine, especially after co-starring with Murphy in Oppenheimer and working with Nolan in the award-winning movie.