2021 will see the belated release of Zack Snyder's true vision for Justice League, and if fan-power could bring that to life, it should also give the DCEU a Batman Beyond movie starring Michael Keaton. And if one thing has emerged out of the accidentally erroneous suggestion that Keaton will be sticking around as the main DCEU Batman, it's that fans would really like it to be the case. And not only that, but a Batman Beyond movie would be top billing on most wishlists.
The Snyder Cut will land on Warner's HBO Max as a direct result of a concentrated fan campaign that transcended the typical limits of interaction and appreciation and turned into concrete action. It may not be DCEU canon, but that arguably no longer matters as fans (and Snyder) have something more valuable, validation of their desires and the inherent invitation to ask for more. The Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad? Why not. A future sequel for Justice League in Snyder's timeline? It's not entirely out of the question. As long as the fan-power turns into financial transactions and brand-boosting for Warner Bros, the sky is potentially the limit.
So why not more of a future in the DCEU for Michael Keaton's take on the Dark Knight? For all of the confusion sparked on social media over the suggestion that Keaton's appearance in The Flash sets up more, there's no denying the excitement it temporarily inspired. Social media offers that sort of bottled lightning reaction and if Warner Bros were paying attention (and they have people on their payroll charged with that exact thing), then they should have been taking notes on what DCEU's fans want for their canonized future too. And while Robert Pattinson's The Batman will be a huge draw, there is now further proof that the fandom has space in its heart to accept more than one ongoing Batman. If that power of desire can drag the Snyder Cut into a reality, it should also Batman Beyond.
This is not merely empty gesturing, either: Batman Beyond has been under consideration as a movie before - prior to Christopher Nolan's rebirth of Bruce Wayne with Batman Begins. Ultimately, those plans amounted to nothing, but the popularity of the animated show and the unexplored terrain of an older Wayne paired with a young protege replacement (a dynamic strangely absent from most superhero movies besides Spider-Man's MCU run) stoked those fires quietly in the background. The decision to bring back Michael Keaton as a veteran Bruce Wayne (or so it's assumed - he might well be Thomas Wayne), looked like the perfect set up for Batman Beyond to be revived as a viable screen prospect. So far, the steam propelling that engine has all been fan-made.
But that shouldn't mean Batman Beyond should be dismissed as a project, even if Warner Bros have initially only signed Keaton up for a one-and-done deal. Keaton's Bat has unfinished business, after all, given that he bowed out of Batman Forever because Tim Burton wasn't brought back and the proof of the reaction to his accidental "confirmation" as the full-time DCEU Batman should speak very loudly indeed. Some may have castigated the Snyder Cut era for its validation of certain unsavory fan behaviors, but all that campaign was guilty of was excitement and determination. And if they can revive a project deemed at times impossible, illogical and downright non-existent, surely Warner Bros can carve some space in the future of the DCEU (even in a multiverse branch) for a Michael Keaton Batman Beyond movie?
