The Dark Knight Trilogy started with 2005's Batman Begins. We got The Dark Knight in 2008, and filmmaker Christopher Nolan concluded the trilogy in 2012 with The Dark Knight Rises.
Still the definitive take on Batman for many fans, Nolan's work has stood the test of time and set a high bar for comic book movies. Many notable actors appeared in small roles across the three movies, including Glen Powell and David Dastmalchian.
Now, we've learned that Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul, who played Jesse Pinkman in the hit AMC series, was forced to turn down a role in one of Nolan's critically acclaimed Batman movies. As you might imagine, that still haunts him.
"I sat down with Christopher Nolan on another project. This was years ago," he told Screen Rant in a new interview, "I think it was for Interstellar, but I was offered a very small role - you're literally just reminding me of this - in one of the Batman movies he was doing. I was literally shooting another project, and I couldn't do it. It was a tiny, tiny, tiny role - but I don't care."
Explaining that he just wanted "to be in his universe," Paul went on to express his DC fandom. "I love Batman. I think Batman's probably my favorite, because he's kind of a real guy, right? He's just the guy with a lot of money and a lot of toys, and he's not messing around. I love Superman - I love it all. It's just such a fun, fantastic world where the options are sort of limitless."
Paul didn't specify who Nolan wanted him to play, but it may have been Powell's trader on the stock exchange if his description of the scene is any indication. "[I] just watched Dark Knight the other night. I thought about that. I was like, 'Ah, it would have just been so cool to just be in 30 seconds of one of those movies.'"
Despite missing out on The Dark Knight Trilogy, Paul has since joined another popular comic book franchise with Prime Video's Invincible. In the animated series, he plays Scott Duvall/Powerplex.
Whether we'll see him in a Marvel or DC Comics adaptation remains to be seen, but the actor is no stranger to genre fare, having starred in the likes of Westworld, BoJack Horseman, and Black Mirror. Paul has been fan-cast in many roles, including Captain Cold, The Flash, and Electro.
We spoke to Paul earlier this year about his role in the sci-fi movie Ash. You can watch that in the player below.