Cillian Murphy was 'destined' to play 'Oppenheimer' now

In 2014, the WGN America's Manhattan series nearly cast Cillian Murphy for Robert J. Oppenheimer's role, which he performed after almost a decade later.

However, the series plot's prime focus was not on the father of the atomic bomb but his assistant on the secret project Frank Winter, played by John Benjamin Hickey, who was a physics professor with excellent intellect but self-destructive nature.

Meanwhile, the troubled physicist made his entry in the first season, following his screen time was shot up in the next season.

In a chat with Vanity Fair, writer Lila Byock said, "When we were casting Oppenheimer, we went through a whole series of different ideas."

She continued, "There were actually some rock stars we considered," including David Bowie (who "was not available") and Beck.

As the creator Sam Shaw revealed, "We wanted Oppenheimer to feel both like he possessed a certain undeniable charisma, a presence onstage, but also that he was playing a different instrument. He needed to feel alien, or other, in some ways."

He continued, "A thousand percent, Cillian Murphy was on that list."

Planned as a six-season show, Manhattan was cancelled after Season 2, as the nuclear blast was planned in Japan at the Season 3 end, and the focus of the later seasons would be on the Cold War conflict fallout.