Every Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan Movie Collaboration, Ranked



Cillian Murphy was destined to step into the world of acting, and his critically acclaimed performances serve as evidence. If you had asked a teen Murphy, he would have chosen music as his profession because it was his first love. But unfortunately, when he tried pursuing it, it didn't work out for him (via Metro). Afterward, when he saw the stage play of A Clockwork Orange, it ignited a spark of acting in him, resulting in him getting his first role in a movie called Disco Pigs, directed by Kirsten Sheridan.






The 47-year-old actor has worked with many well-known directors on renowned projects like Peaky Blinders, A Quiet Place, The Edge of Love, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Anthropoid, and others in the past few years. One of them is Christopher Nolan, who is popular for bringing his genius ideas to screen with his complicated yet legendary filmmaking style.


It's rightly said that a director's unique vision and an actor's impeccable performance can elevate a movie's success and also give a good visual treat for the viewers. After working on a total of five projects with Nolan, he is all set to appear in his sixth film, titled Oppenheimer. The craze and competition are high for the film, which will be released on July 21, on the same date as Greta Gerwig's Barbie. Ahead of its release, let's have a look at all the Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy movie collaborations.





5 The Dark Knight Rises (2012)



Cillian Murphy as Jonathan Crane
Warner Bros. Pictures



The final installment of the trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises was written by Nolan and David S. Goyer. Tom Hardy plays the role of Bane, the main antagonist, who brings Batman (Christian Bale) out of eight years of retirement. He is the "liberator of pain," who continues the legacy of the League of Shadows by destroying Gotham. He is also the one who frees Scarecrow and other Black Penitentiary prisoners when he takes over the city.


In an interview (via Entertainment Weekly), Murphy revealed that he didn't want to spoil the movie for himself. That's why he didn't read the whole The Dark Knight Rises script; he just did his cameo and waited for the movie to watch. He described his wait to be "worth it." Even though the film scored a box office collection of over $1 billion, it still received criticism for its complicated plot and underwhelming film title. In an interview, Bale revealed that he and Nolan turned down an offer for a third Dark Knight sequel because they didn't want to stretch the story further.




4 Dunkirk (2017)



Shivering soldier in Dunkirk
Warner Bros.



Released in 2017, Dunkirk is highly inspired by the true events that took place in the town of Dunkirk. In the 1940s, during World War II, France fell into the hands of the German forces, resulting in the Allied troops of Britain, Belgium, and France being trapped on the coast of Dunkirk. The Allied forces launch a mission to rescue the troops slowly by providing air and ground support. They were successful in evacuating the troops and saving the lives of soldiers involved in the mission. This event went down in history and was named as the "Miracle of Dunkirk."


Murphy plays the role of a shivering soldier whose life is saved by Mr. Dawson, played by Charles Lightroller. In an interview (via Fortress of Solitude), Murphy revealed that Nolan knows him well and the roles that interest him, so when the director approached him for Dunkirk, he knew it would be a great film. Also, he gets this "lovely feeling" when Nolan approaches him for any role.



3 Batman Begins (2005)



Cillian Murphy wearing glasses and a suit as Dr. Crane, or Scarecrow, in Batman Begins
Warner Bros. Pictures



Nolan's entry in the superhero genre, Batman Begins was a total game-changer for DC Comics-inspired movies, as he brought an almost-dead franchise out of the grave and made it alive. He gave a fresh, realistic, serious, and gloomy perspective to the Batman films, which the previous movies lacked. The story is more like the origins of the beloved DC character, penned by David S. Goyer. In his early years, Bruce Wayne has to deal with the emotional baggage of his parents' death, who were murdered in front of his eyes. Driven by the purpose of avenging his parents deaths and fighting crimes in Gotham, his younger self trains hard under martial artist Henry Ducard, who works for the secret society, League of Shadows.


When Bruce realizes that the society's purpose is to destroy Gotham, he returns to the city and puts on his newly discovered identity of the Caped Crusader. Murphy portrays the secondary antagonist in the film, whose name is Jonathan Crane, a.k.a., Scarecrow. He is a corrupt-minded individual who equally contributed to the evil plans of Falcone and Ra's al Ghul (leader of the League of Shadows) to bring Gotham to its knees. He is also the creator of fear toxins, which cause terror in the movie.




2 Inception (2010)



Inception
Warner Bros.



How cool is it to enter someone's dream and gather important information through their subconscious? But as genius as this skill might sound, it costs a lot, and at times it's your sanity. Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Dominic Cobb, demonstrates the drawbacks and power of such a mind-blowing ability. The 2010 film sees Cobb practice the art of stealing thoughts and ideas from his target's subconscious minds, becoming a big name in business espionage world.


He has faced a lot of losses due to his rare talent and is offered a chance to redeem himself by conducting a nearly impossible inception. In this operation, Cobb is required to embed an idea in a business rival's heir's mind, played by Murphy.



1 The Dark Knight (2008)



Cillian Murphy in a line-up of arrested people in a parking garage in The Dark Knight
Warner Bros. Pictures



The Dark Knight is considered to be one of the best movies of all time, starring Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as the main cast. Even though Murphy's character returns for a smaller role, he is seen having a drug dealer meeting, which is soon interrupted by Batman, who takes him into custody.


Trouble arises for the Caped Crusader when his mission to eradicate Gotham's organized crime with his allies is obstructed by the Joker, a man who's on a motive to test Batman's morality. As per Ian Nathan's book, Christopher Nolan: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work, Nolan had no plans for another installment after Batman Begins as he thought he had done his bit of rebooting the dead franchise and wanted to work on his other material. But in reality, he did end up making these best Batman movies, which effectively set a high benchmark for future DC films.

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