I want you to tell all your friends about me.
What are you?
I'm Batman.
Tim Burton's Batman defied naysayers and Hollywood logic
alike to be one of the biggest movies Warner Brothers had
produced up to that point.
And close to three decades later when Warner's DC Comics based
universe of films were in a bad spot,
there was one answer-- bring in Michael Keaton to play Batman.
I'm Batman.
There's only one problem.
Things didn't go as planned.
And now Keaton's Dark Knight will never return.
Ever.
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Michael Keaton came roaring back to public prominence
with his Oscar nominated turn in 2014's Birdman.
In the film, he played a mentally on the edge
actor who had previously starred in a massive blockbuster
franchise about an avian themed superhero.
Not exactly hard to see the parallels between the character
and Keaton himself.
And those parallels caused quite a stir among critics
and moviegoing audiences alike.
Off the back of this resurgence, he booked roles in projects
like Spider-Man Homecoming, Spotlight, and The Founder.
It was a second act that no actor could have dreamed of.
And yet there was more.
And it came with a bat-shaped insignia.
Keaton had originally walked away
from the role of Batman in the early '90s after Joel
Schumacher took over the reins of the Batman film franchise.
After Tim Burton was pushed out due to Batman Returns
underperforming and being thought of as too
dark and overtly sexual.
Meow.
Schumacher was brought in with a decidedly more
campy perspective on the world's greatest detective.
And contrary to popular belief, Keaton
was originally going to star in the Schumacher directed
project.
However, Keaton quickly realized that his idea
of a grounded origin story exploring
the inner life and motivations of Bruce Wayne
was never going to happen.
So he walked away.
He said, "I don't understand why everything has to be so dark
and everything's so sad.
And I went, wait a minute.
Do you know how this guy got to be Batman?"
Then in 2020 when deadline ran a rumor mill article that Keaton
was in talks to reprise his beloved take on Batman,
fans of both Keaton and the character
were both shocked and excited.
I'm Batman.
[CHEERING]
However, that positive emotion was then
met with a slightly befuddled confusion by the fact
that Keaton would be appearing in the long gestating Flash
film.
Rumor had it that Keaton's Batman
would appear in the film as a multiverse version of Gotham's
Dark Prince, only to the end of the movie, replace Ben Affleck
and become the primary version of Batman
to live in the DCEU going forward.
His role in the greater continuity of films
would be that of the DC version of Nick Fury in the MCU.
I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger initiative.
Keaton would be utilized as the connective tissue
for the overarching narrative of the universe
and the unseen mastermind of much of the big status quo
shifts moving forward for the studio's universe.
Or at least that was the plan.
Only problem being that this idea would never truly
come to fruition, partially due to box office underperformance
of The Flash, and partially due to studio
ineptitude and an ever revolving door of corporate regime
changes.
The possibilities of having Keaton's Batman be
a dark and plodding Batman doing what
needs to be done to foster another generation of heroes
is a great concept.
It also pays respect to the cinematic lineage
of DC Comics on film.
It's an idea so great it almost feels like fan fiction.
The original ending of The Flash would
have seen Barry Allen's Flash realizing
that he had rewritten the universe
to now be an alternate timeline populated by Sasha Calle's
Supergirl and Keaton's Batman.
This would have been the setup for a new status quo
within the DC filmic universe.
There would have been remnants of Zack Snyder's DCEU,
but there also would have been several new additions.
One of the key rumor talking points
was that Supergirl and Batgirl were
going to be placed front and center in this continuity,
having them ostensibly serve as the new Superman
and Batman of the DCEU with Keaton's Batman working
as their mentor.
Barry, what are you doing?
What?
Our kids are going to want to see this.
Your kids?
However, it was decided by Warner Brothers
not to pursue this direction despite shooting
all of Keaton's scenes for this proposed ending.
This version was eventually abandoned and replaced,
but that's a story for another day.
Who the [BLEEP] is this?
After wrapping up The Flash, plans at the time
were full steam ahead on the idea of Keaton as Nick Fury.
And he shot a supporting role in the now permanently abandoned
Batgirl movie starring Leslie Grace.
As the rumors had insinuated, the film
featured Keaton in a mentor role guiding Grace's Batgirl
through her fledgling outing as a vigilante.
The project was also going to feature
Brendan Fraser as the bat-villain Firefly
and the return of JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.
However, despite the rumored plans
to make Batgirl and Supergirl the center of the DCU,
the film was canceled during post-production.
Variety would later publish a piece
about the logic behind this move,
and the short answer is Warner Discovery's new CEO David
Zaslav's approach to making the company as profitable
as possible is simple-- tax write offs.
And if you don't release the film, you can write it off.
Additionally, there were rumors that he was not
interested in the idea of a DCU led by Supergirl and Batgirl.
Thus into the garbage with all of it.
But these stories aren't the only films
that Keaton's Batman was scheduled to appear in
before getting the axe.
Aquaman 2, which had its own production troubles,
was originally supposed to have a cameo from Keaton's version
of Gotham's Dark Knight.
Why?
In order to set up his eventual appearance in The Flash.
However, due to the shifting production timelines
and release dates, the Aquaman film
was pushed until after The Flash,
thus making his cameo null and void.
And because tragedies come in threes--
although maybe this is the fourth depending
on how you count-- here's the proposed Keaton Batman
role that hurts the most.
Rumors propagated by Kevin Smith suggested
that Batman Beyond would have been
the next film on Keaton's schedule
had The Flash been a success.
It would have been the first live action
appearance of the beloved animated character.
This is the idea that they should
have brought Keaton back for.
Why was he in a Flash movie?
As corporate insurance.
Warner's wanted to make a Crisis movie,
but they didn't have the narrative runway
to make it a big enough event.
So they just reverse engineered it out of The Flash,
and they used fan enthusiasm for Keaton
and his version of Batman as the anchor point.
You want to get nuts?
Let's get nuts.
But that just wasn't enough to make
The Flash-- the character's first solo outing--
work as a crossover event with characters that have nothing
to do with him.
Finally, when James Gunn and Peter Safran
were named as co-CEOs of DC Studios,
basically all the potential plans for Keaton's Batman
went out the window.
They reshot the ending of The Flash to not feature Keaton
and even shot new footage of him dying in the climactic battle
in the film's third act.
And unfortunately, that will probably
be the last time we see his version of Bruce Wayne.
To put it bluntly, Keaton deserved better.
We can't bring you back, can we?
You already did.
If they were going to bring him back,
it shouldn't have been in a Flash movie.
It should have been in a film that fully respected
and revered his legacy and standing in the genre
of superhero films.
He should have been the star of a big screen
adaption of The Dark Knight Returns or Batman Beyond.
The movie should have been as reverential to the character
as the audience is to the actor.
But instead, we got weird barefoot fight scenes and Bruce
as a would-be impressionist painter.
Comparing the revolving door of decision makers
and quagmire of poor narrative choices
that the folks running Warner's have made really
puts it into perspective just what a modern Marvel
the MCU truly is.
The fact that they made three phases of films
that crescendoed into a completely satisfying finale
is pure magic.
DC can't even bring one actor that everyone wants to see back
in a satisfying way.
Ultimately, it's a complete gift that we
got to see Keaton's Batman on screen at all.
However, it's bittersweet due to how he was used,
how the plans for continuing adventures were abandoned,
and how poorly the whole thing was managed.
Come on Barbie.
Let's go party?
Hopefully this can be a teachable moment for Gunn
and Safran's new go at supervising the DCU.
When plans are rolled out, you really need to stick to them.
And well, that's all we have for this episode of Nerdstalgic.
What did you think of Keaton's Batman in The Flash?
Let us down in the comments below.
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