Saltburn may have made Barry Keoghan a household name but it couldn’t fulfill his colossal career ambition of playing Spider-Man. Even Marvel couldn’t make it come true, but sorry, Barry! but we’re glad that Tom Holland was the one who nabbed the superhero role.
The actor, 32, recently opened up about his attempt to get cast as the web-slinger when Marvel was looking for MCU’s Spider-Man circa 2015. The Banshees of Inisherin star, who never even got to audition for the role, was so dedicated to the part, that he bought a cheap Spider-Man costume from a pound shop and went to work with it.
Barry Keoghan’s Attempt at Playing Spider-Man
In a rare moment on Josh Horowitz’s ‘Happy Sad Confused‘ podcast, Barry Keoghan opened up about making a Spider-Man short film in which he starred as Peter Parker. It was the actor’s way of auditioning for the webhead while Marvel’s casting for MCU’s web-slinger was in full swing.
While giving insight into his attempt at the superhero role, Keoghan who’s rumored to play Joker again in Robert Pattinson’s The Batman Part 2, also admitted Tom Holland‘s Spider-Man supremacy saying – “No one beats Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, honestly.”
As the story goes, Keoghan found a Spider-Man costume at a pound shop and made a short film with it. We dare say that the scenes look like they are straight out of an early 2010’s superhero film. The Oscar nominee goes full Peter Parker, even chucking his Irish accent for an American one. The film starts with Peter sitting in his bedroom and narrating the changes he’s going through since the spider bite.
We then follow him to school where, right off the bat, we understand that he’s easily bullied. Next, you know, a flirtatious Gwen Stacy walks in. We also get a sneak peek of Peter’s spidey sense when his friend throws a paper ball at him from behind and he dodges it even without ever having looked back. Finally, we see Peter atop what’s supposed to be a high-rise building as Keoghan comes out in full spidey gear. Fans can watch the short film here.
On the podcast, Keoghan, who joins Cillian Murphy, Rebecca Ferguson, and more in the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie, also opened up about other short films he made for his doomed Eternals movie and the Christopher Nolan epic Dunkirk.
Barry Keoghan’s Superhero Career is a Total Confusion
It’s no secret, that the Irish actor is one of Hollywood’s most well-known young talents. He’s proven his acting mettle time and again in films like The Banshees of Inesherin, Saltburn, Dunkirk, and more. However, a stable superhero role has still eluded him so far.
Keoghan’s first swipe at it was in Marvel’s Eternals (2021) as the comic character Druig. Although he delivered a convincing performance, the audience’s fatigue after Avengers: Endgame, combined with the $402 million grossing film’s confusing timeline and several bland characters led to a box office disaster. As a result, Keoghan’s MCU future fell into the doldrums with talks of Eternals 2 halting. The actor isn’t confirmed to appear as Druig in any future films so far.
Marvel truly fumbled the bag by casting an actor of Keoghan’s caliber in a role that seemingly has less significance in the upcoming MCU films. However, we are still holding out hopes that he gets recast as a possible X-Men or another key character.
However, MCU’s failure is the result of DC’s gain. Matt Reeves’ The Batman (2022) introduced the actor in the coveted Joker role previously played by icon Heath Ledger and more recently butchered in Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker: Folie à Deux. Although his scene didn’t make The Batman‘s final cut, it has since landed on the internet causing a faction of fans to campaign for Keoghan to play Joke in future Batman projects by Reeves.
Even if his Joker casting doesn’t pan out, Keoghan could get the million-dollar opportunity to bring a new DC comic character to life in James Gunn’s DCU. Marvel isn’t the only big dog around anymore and an actor like Keoghan undoubtedly deserves a fair shot at playing a key superhero in a big franchise.
