A new fan sculpt shows what Michael Keaton could look like back in the Batman cowl for his appearance in next year’s The Flash movie. Keaton first tackled the role of DC’s Dark Knight in 1989’s Batman directed by Tim Burton, the film which many think redefined the modern superhero film. While Keaton would return again for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, he would eventually turn down the opportunity to appear in 1995’s Batman Forever and hand the cowl over to Val Kilmer.
In August 2020, Warner Bros. officially announced that Keaton would be suiting up once more in next year’s The Flash film, directed by It’s Andy Muschietti and penned by Birds of Prey and Batgirl screenwriter Christina Hodson. Loosely based on the Flashpoint comic storyline, Muschietti’s film will see Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen encounter both Ben Affleck’s and Keaton’s version of Gotham City’s greatest detective. Shortly after the announcement of Keaton’s return, concept art shown at the 2020 DC FanDome event revealed Barry’s Flash in a brand new costume alongside Keaton’s Batman.
Most recently, fan sculptor and propmaker ReevzFX posted photos to Twitter of what the now 70-year-old Keaton would look like back in his iconic Batman cowl. With an incredible amount of detail, while these new photos are only a fan sculpt, it does provide fans with probably the best idea of what Keaton could look like in the new movie. Check out the original post below:
While the film’s first teaser released in October this year strongly hinted at Keaton’s return, with multiple versions of Miller’s Barry Allen seen in the iconic Batcave, only the back of Keaton’s Batman was shown. Due to Barry’s meddling with the timeline, he finds himself having to seek assistance from an alternative version of Bruce Wayne rather than Affleck’s DCEU version he is most familiar with. Of course, the decision not to show Keaton’s face in the teaser may actually hint that Muschietti could, instead, be looking to surprise fans by borrowing a page from the rival MCU and digitally de-aging Keaton in his film.
While most fans are expecting Keaton to be playing an older version of Bruce Wayne, much as this latest fan sculpt suggests, digital de-aging has already played an important role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it could easily be applied to make Keaton’s Batman younger. As both Alfred Molina’s and Willem Dafoe’s recent performances in Spider-Man: No Way Home prove, the technology has evolved to a point where it almost appears seamless on screen. Regardless of whether or not Keaton will be playing an older or younger version of Bruce Wayne, DC fans will be eager to see him back in the role when The Flash hits cinemas in November next year.
Source: ReevzFX
