Michael Keaton almost went "beyond" "Batman Returns" with another solo
outing as the caped crusader. So what went wrong?
The year was 1989, and Warner Bros. was more than ready to give Batman another trip to the movies.
Unlike the previous incarnation, brought to life by the late great Adam West,
this version would be much darker, serious, and mysterious.
Michael Keaton was selected to portray the "Caped Crusader,"
going one-on-one against Jack Nicholson's Joker under the direction of Tim Burton.
Simply titled "Batman," this feature would revolutionize the comic book movie genre,
rake in mountains of cash for all involved, and prove that there was more to Keaton than comedy.
"You wanna get nuts!? COME ON! Let's get nuts!"
Due to the success of "Batman," Keaton got to don the hard rubber cowl once
again in 1992 via "Batman Returns" — a controversial sequel that derailed
Burton's time as a Batman director and served as Keaton's unexpected swan song.
In the decades that followed, Keaton never shied away from reminding folks that he is and forever
will be Batman, but it seemed unlikely he'd ever get to take on the role again. That is,
until it came to light in the early years of the 2020s that he'd reprise his role in several DC
features, such as "The Flash," "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," and the now-canceled "Batgirl."
As it turns out, these cameos weren't all Michael Keaton's
rendition of Batman would have to sink his teeth into. He was also reportedly
in line for a movie all his own that has been unceremoniously scrapped.
On December 8, 2022, John Rocha and Jeff Sneider streamed an episode of their show,
"The Hot Mic," where Sneider dropped an intriguing tidbit regarding the plan for Michael Keaton's
Batman. According to his sources, plans were in place for him to get his own solo film,
but the powers that be — DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, President and CEO of Warner
Bros. Discovery David Zaslav, or someone else entirely — elected to wipe it from the release
slate. Sneider also claims that Christina Hodson was the one tasked with writing the project.
Other than these few morsels of information, Sneider didn't have anything else to offer
regarding this production. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the plot to thicken elsewhere.
Umberto Gonzalez of TheWrap took to Twitter to add another
eyebrow-raising detail to this canceled Keaton Batman movie situation, posting,
This means fans almost saw a live-action adaptation of the
beloved DC animated series, which ran from 1999 to 2001.
"Batman Beyond" has fans the world over who would surely love to see some of its biggest story beats
replicated at the movies. Michael Keaton more than has what it takes to play the secluded,
elderly version of Bruce Wayne we see on the show, as voiced by the irreplaceable Kevin
Conroy. Sadly, if these reports are indeed true and DC Studios is no longer working on a "Batman
Beyond" movie featuring Keaton, we'll likely never get to see him try. Oddly enough, this
isn't the first time rumblings of such a film made the rounds only to end up in the bin in the end.
Way back in 2000, Boaz Yakin was selected to co-write and direct a live-action "Batman
Beyond" movie. The minds behind the TV show, Paul Dini and Alan Burnett,
signed on to write the screenplay, which they completed and submitted in 2001. Ultimately,
as we now know, in 2022, Warner Bros. didn't give the film the green light to enter production,
so it wound up trashed. It is worth noting that, for this feature, Keaton wasn't even
considered to play the aged Bruce Wayne. Yakin actually wanted to see cinematic icon Clint
Eastwood take on the part, adding his name to the pantheon of live-action Batman actors.
Not only is it disappointing that another supposed attempt at bringing "Batman Beyond" to the silver
screen didn't pan out, but in this instance, we were apparently pretty close to seeing Michael
Keaton's Bruce Wayne mentor Terry McGinnis. Maybe someday this endeavor or one like it
will become a reality, but on DC Studios' current roadmap, the odds certainly aren't in its favor.