The original Batman star, Michael Keaton, is ready to don the cape of The Dark Knight again in DCEU’s upcoming instalments, The Flash and Batgirl. His collaboration with helmer Tim Burton in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) were dark, forcing the parents to unleash their anger on the Warner Bros studio for their approach to the superhero character. The executives replaced Burton with Joel Schumacher to bring more fun and goofiness to Batman entries. But Keaton didn’t appear in Schumacher’s Batman projects. Let’s find out why the actor stayed away from donning the cape for so long.
Keaton recently appeared in The Jess Cagle Podcast with Julia Cunningham, mentioning his reasons for his absence in Schumacher’s Batman instalments: “[Batman] was a job. And then the next one was a job, and I enjoyed it. But then over time — and then the third one, I just couldn’t do. I just thought, ‘Well, this is not good. This is not good. I just can’t do it. I’ll blow my brains out. Just can’t live with myself.’ And so I walked away.”
But the character of Batman has witnessed several notable changes in the last 32 years. From tolerating The Caped Crusader’s nipples on his suit to enjoyingly gawking him beating the crap out of the guys in the upcoming Matt Reeves’ The Batman, we have come a long way with the most prominent vigilante in Gotham’s history. Maybe this scenario has inspired Keaton to take back the mantle again after dropping it – ostensibly forever.
Keaton also praised The Flash’s director, Andy Muschietti, in his recent interview: “It has to be good. There’s no reason to do it if it’s not good. It’s not gonna really change anything. And I just jumped in and had fun. And why would you not? You know, I mean, director Andy Muschietti is fantastic, and it’s really creative. I don’t know. It’s fun.”
Micheal Keaton is ready to reprise the role of Batman in Ezra Miller’s The Flash and Batgirl, scheduled to premiere this year.