The Dark Knight Returns! Michael Keaton in Talks to Reprise ‘Batman’ Role
2020 is finally giving us something good: the return of Michael Keaton as Batman!
Keaton is in talks to reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Warner Bros.’ upcoming movie The Flash, starring Ezra Miller.
The plot will reportedly be based on the DC Comics “Flashpoint” storyline, and will see Miller’s Flash go back in time to save his mother’s life, only to return and find he has radically changed the present timeline, which will feature the appearance of Keaton’s Batman, 30 years older.
Talks with Keaton are in the very early stages, it is far from a sure thing, and can go either way. No details are currently available about how big or small Keaton’s role is.
That plot will introduce general audiences to the idea of the multiverse, one of the of core concepts underpinning DC Comics. For the non fanboy set, the multiverse refers to a shifting number of alternate universes that coexist within the larger reality depicted in DC comics. Originally created to explain various contradictory changes the company’s characters experienced over decades, it allows several different versions of the same characters to simultaneously exist and, occasionally, interact. Matt Reeves upcoming “The Batman” will not be affected and Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne is still viewed as the future of the franchise.
One notable component is the idea that in every single universe, Earth is always home to a larger than normal number of superpowered heroes and villains whose actions often have galaxy-spanning consequences.
And while it’s still not known how the multiverse concept will play out in other future DC Comics movies, it certainly expands the available options for Warner Bros as it develops them. Just in case it wants to find a way to pit Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker against, say, the current version of Aquaman.
Keaton first played Batman/Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton’s 1989 blockbuster of the same name, a critical and financial success that changed how superhero films were viewed — and paved the way for the genre’s future box office domination. Keaton’s casting was initially controversial among fans, as he was primarily known for broad comedies. But his performance, particularly how he used his comedic background in his portrayal of Bruce Wayne to differentiate it from Batman, was widely praised and is now recognized as an seminal moment in comic book films.
Keaton last played Batman in 1992’s “Batman Returns,” but quit the role during development of a third film after Burton was pushed out as director and replaced with Joel Schumacher, who took the series in a campier direction with 1995’s “Batman Forever” and its much-reviled 1997 follow up “Batman & Robin.”
More details as this develops.
