Michael Keaton is regarded as one of the finest actors in the entertainment industry who gained worldwide recognition when he starred as Bruce Wayne a.k.a., Batman in 1989’s Batman and later 1992’s Batman Returns. Directed by Tim Burton, the DC superhero movie was only given a green signal after Burton’s 1988 Beetlejuice was a success.
Keaton’s casting was considered a controversy at the time since the actor had been pigeonholed as a comic actor and fans along with critics weren’t sure if he could portray a serious character like Batman. The actor’s performance was highly lauded by the audience and the critics after the movie was released. The actor recently reprised the character for 2023’s The Flash and was later asked about the future of his Batman in DCU.
Michael Keaton hints his return as Batman
Fans were excited to witness Michael Keaton donning the cape once again as Batman for DCEU’s The Flash, which was released in 2023. Ezra Miller starrer The Flash showcased how Barry Allen disrupts time and encounters the alternate Bruce Wayne but the movie failed to perform at the box office making it a huge disappointment for the studios.
In his conversation on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor who was promoting his movie Knox Goes Away, was asked if he’d like to return as Batman once again on-screen to which he said,
“I don’t think about it much. Never say never, I don’t think. Everything depends upon something else.”
Keaton was meant to appear in a supporting role in Batgirl played by Leslie Grace, which was later canceled by the studios. The actor had a cameo in Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which was removed from the final cut. The actor recently channelized his Bruce Wayne aura while appearing at the 96th Academy Awards during a segment when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito took the stage to present an award for Best Visual Effects.
Schwarzenegger played Mr. Frieze in Batman & Robin where George Clooney played Batman and DeVito played The Penguin in Batman Returns. Upon his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Keaton shared that he’d worry about DeVito explaining;
“Danny is the one I’d worry about cause he’s sneaky. He’d creep up behind you, and he has the height advantage because he’s so small. You don’t know where he is. He’s always sneaking around. The other guy I would just put away. He’s too slow.”
The actor shared that either Jimmy Kimmel or Molly McNearney, Oscars producer reached out to him to do a bit and he thought it would be fun so played along. About his menacing look, he said it just happens.
Michael Keaton says Batman is ‘iconic’
In his interview with THR, the fan-favorite actor had shared about returning as the Batman in The Flash. He said,
“Frankly, in the back of my head, I always thought, ‘I bet I could go go back and nail that m*****f***’’. And so I thought ‘Well, now that they’re asking me, let me see if I can pull that off’”.
Keaton however admitted that he had to read the script three times to only end up asking the makers about how the multiverse works adding that they explained it to him several times. He added at the time that he is not trying to be arrogant but there are things he doesn’t know about and revealed that he somehow just figured it out.
The actor continued that what was interesting was how much he understood Batman more when he went back and played him again. He added,
“I get this on a whole other level now. I totally respect it. I respect what people are trying to make. I never looked at it like, ‘Oh, this is just a silly thing’. It was not silly thing when I did Batman. But it has become a giant thing, culturally. It’s iconic.”
Michael Keaton mentioned that he has even more respect for the character because this is a big deal in the world to people and he has to honor that and be respectful of that. He also credited Tim Burton by stating that what he did changed everything as everything the audience sees now started with him.
The Flash is available to stream on HBO Max.
