Eddie Murphy Supposedly Pushed Hard To Play This Superhero In The '90s

By 1992, Eddie Murphy was riding high. He had already established himself as a legitimate hitmaker with films like "48 Hrs.," "Trading Places," and "Beverly Hills Cop" while still retaining his stand-up bona-fides with "Raw." John Landis' "Coming to America," which Murphy co-wrote and starred in, came out in 1988 and made a blindingly high $350 million at the box office. He was an honest-to-goodness Hollywood star. 

In that position, Murphy could choose whatever projects he wanted. From 1989 to 1996, his choices were varied and intriguing. He starred in high-profile comedies ("The Distinguished Gentleman"), but also more adult romantic dramas ("Boomerang") and personal projects ("Harlem Nights"). In a weird choice, he made a horror comedy with Wes Craven ("Vampire in Brooklyn") and sequels to his earlier comedies ("Another 48 Hrs.," "Beverly Hills Cop III"). In the middle of this run of films, Murphy was also planning to star in a big-budget comedy adaptation of "The Green Hornet," based on the radio drama character invented in the 1930s and famously adapted into a short-lived TV series in 1966.

Why "The Green Hornet?" Well, the timing was right. Recall that Hollywood, in the wake of Tim Burton's "Batman" in 1989, immediately moved to make stylized superhero movies based on (or inspired by) classically shadowy pulp comics characters. "Dick Tracy" and "Darkman" came out in 1990, "The Shadow" and "The Crow" came out in 1994, etc. "The Green Hornet" was a deathly serious masked vigilante that Murphy would be very pleased to portray while also spoofing.

A 1992 article in the Los Angeles Times announced that a script for "The Green Hornet" had been completed, written by Don Mancini, best known for the "Child's Play" movies. An anonymous source said that, yes, Murphy was interested.

The Green Horner was the superhero alter ego of a wealthy publisher named Britt Reid, who ran his business by day and operated as a masked vigilante by night. He and his sidekick Kato would drive around in their ultra-cool high-tech car, Black Beauty, and shake down the town's criminal element. In a twist on the superhero narrative, the Green Hornet allowed the world at large to think that he was a criminal as a means to more deeply infiltrate the criminal underworld. (Fun trivia: In the original radio dramas, Britt Reid was the son of Dan Reid, the nephew of the Lone Ranger.) The 1966 TV adaptation took place in the same universe as the Adam West "Batman." Van Williams played Britt Reid and Bruce Lee played Kato in that version. 

In the proposed 1992 "Green Hornet" movie, Murphy would play Britt Reid. The Times quoted an anonymous source as saying: 

"Ever since 'Batman' was released in 1989, Eddie has really wanted to play a super-hero, [...] specifically that character. He's a big fan of the story, and he's let it be known to Universal that he wants to star in the film."

This was also encouraged by a Universal exec named Tom Craig, who would have overseen the project. He very much wanted to make an Eddie Murphy superhero movie. 

But that anonymous source may not have been entirely accurate. The Times also talked to a man named Mark Lipsky, the executive producer of Murphy's 1992 romance "Boomerang," and he said, "We have no interest in 'The Green Hornet' right now," and explained that other projects were in development. Lipsky only admitted that Murphy had "some initial interest" in it. Murphy himself didn't comment, so we have conflicting stories about his interest in the "Hornet" project. 

Don Mancini's script was said to be more like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" than "Batman," having a light, caper-like tone rather than a shadowy, brooding one. "There's a lot of humor in it already," Mancini said at the time, "but with any star of that stature, the script will have to be retooled." The script was also going to be an origin story, detailing how Britt Reid came to be the Green Hornet in the first place, and Mancini definitely included the character's connection to the Lone Ranger. 

As we now know, Murphy never expressed enough interest to get the film into production. Universal began looking for other screenwriters, and "The Green Hornet" entered a 20-year phase of development hell. George Clooney was attached to a movie in 1996, and then Mark Wahlberg a few years later. Michel Gondry signed on to direct, but then dropped out. Jet Li was approach to play Kato in 2000, and Christopher McQuarrie wrote a script. In 2004, Harvey Weinstein hired Kevin Smith to write and direct a "Green Hornet" story with Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead role. Stephen Chow was once rumored to have been circling. 

None of those projects came together. In 2009, the final film started to take shape with Seth Rogen in the lead role, playing a comedic version of the character. Michel Gondry came back as the director, and Jay Chou signed on to play Kato. "The Green Hornet" was finally released in 2011, 29 years after Murphy had first been mentioned as a potential star. It was a modest hit and warmly received by critics, but it's not terribly well-remembered anymore.