Tim Burton’s Batman celebrated its 35th anniversary this month. The iconic film was released on June 23, 1989, and was one of the most commercially successful films of the year. It has also become a cult classic, with many adoring Michael Keaton’s performance as the caped crusader. The film spawned the sequels Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin.
While the film is a classic now, it took many years for this particular iteration of the character to come to fruition. The superhero genre at the time was aimed at mostly children and was not taken seriously. Batman expert and producer Michael Uslan credited Burton for giving the character a serious treatment and even mentioned that its success led to the creation of the MCU.
Michael Uslan Credits Tim Burton’s Batman For The MCU’s Success
Tim Burton helmed the 1989 Batman film a year after his horror comedy Beetlejuice. While Burton was not the ideal candidate at the time, his vision of a darker Gotham and his focus on Bruce Wayne’s psyche, more than Batman’s adventures, was revolutionary. He reportedly aligned perfectly with producer and comic book expert Michael Uslan’s vision.
Uslan reportedly pushed to make a darker Batman which was more similar to Bob Kane and Bill Finger’s comics for decades before it was finally realized. A professor and comic book expert, Uslan reportedly had to convince numerous studio executives about the potential for a darker Batman as the IP was marred by the funny and campy ‘60s Batman show.
In a tweet celebrating Batman’s 35th anniversary, Uslan credited Burton and actor Michael Keaton’s dedication to bringing a more realistic version of the caped crusader for the rise of the superhero genre in Hollywood. He also credited it for the success of the MCU.
The film was extremely successful at the box office and spawned multiple sequels and reboots. Burton’s film is often credited with inspiring Hollywood to take the genre seriously, with the likes of the MCU owing its $29.7 billion success to the film (via The Numbers).
Tim Burton Convinced Michael Uslan That Michael Keaton Was Perfect For Bruce Wayne
What is a Batman casting without a million fans disapproving it until the film’s release? While actors such as Heath Ledger, Ben Affleck, and Robert Pattinson have faced harsh criticism for their casting, Michael Keaton was the pioneer in receiving hate from fans. Keaton’s casting was extremely controversial due to his reputation as a comedic actor.
While angry fans wrote letters to Warner Bros., producer and perpetual Batfan Michael Uslan too was skeptical about Tim Burton’s choice. Uslan was reportedly sad about having fought tooth and nail to get a serious Batman film in development and having to cast a comedic actor. But Burton reportedly convinced him. Uslan said in an interview,
Ultimately the genius of Tim Burton reared its head. And he explained to me why. He said ‘Michael, you wanted to see a serious BATMAN right? Do you agree with me with the signing of Jack Nicholson, we can’t go with an unknown like they did in SUPERMAN – Nicholson would wipe the screen with the guy.’
And I agreed. Tim said, ‘I don’t know how to take any of today’s ‘serious actor’ and put them in the Bat-suit to fight crime without getting unintentional laughs’.
Finally, Uslan was reportedly convinced after Burton showed him Keaton’s performance in Clean and Sober. And, the rest is history.
Batman is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
