Michael Keaton talks about his return as Batman and the one thing that made him come back for The Flash. Keaton played Batman twice before for Tim Burton's Batman in 1989 and the sequel Batman Returns in 1992. Burton exited the third film, replaced by Joel Schumacher, who had a very different take on the material, prompting Keaton to leave the cape and cowl behind. Val Kilmer took up the mantle for Batman Forever in 1995 and then George Clooney for Batman & Robin in 1997. Since then, both Christian Bale and Ben Affleck have portrayed the Caped Crusader, with Robert Pattinson taking on the role in this year's The Batman.
Keaton moved on from the Batman role, taking on a variety of roles and projects that led to a continued successful career. The actor appeared in comedies like Multiplicity and The Other Guys, as well as award-winning fare like Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and Spotlight. Keaton has also made his return to the comic-book world, albeit for Marvel, starring as the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming (and is expected to reappear in this year's Morbius).
Guesting on The Jess Cagle Podcast With Julia Cunningham, Keaton said that he "embraced" the experience this time around, saying it was "the right time" after being away for so long, but that he had to play "catch up" with the current trend of superhero movies, which has changed a lot since his original tenure as Batman. "It [Batman] was a job and it was with Tim Burton and we didn't know. I knew this, 'If this is a miss, this is a really big miss.' This could set us way back, all of us. And I thought, well, the thing I admire the most in actors is guts and hopefully I lived by that." However, Keaton said that he wouldn't have been able to live with himself for the third Batman, which was changing hands creatively. "It was not good," he said. "I just can't do it. I'll blow my brains out. I just couldn't live with myself. So, I walked away." But as Keaton began to move on with his career and the superhero genre took off, Keaton started to get interested again and decided to find out what it's all about in its current state, saying, "And then, as time went on, I caught up with the culture. Everything that's happened in that world, the superhero world with Marvel and DC and fanboys and Comic-Con and the zeitgeist of all that stuff, y'know, I was really out of it, to be honest. And, at some point you're a jerk if you don't go, 'well, this is a legitimate world, you're no better or worse than this.'" Then, the call eventually came from Warner Bros. for The Flash, which he knew he had to do, but under one condition:
Of course you had to do this. But, it has to be good. There's no reason to do it if it's not good. So, it's really good. And, I just jumped in and had fun and why would you not? Director Andy Muschietti is fantastic and really creative. I don't know, it's fun.
The Flash will star Ezra Miller, returning as Barry Allen/the Flash after portraying him in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder's Justice League. Directed by Andy Muschietti (It), the film also stars Sasha Calle as Supergirl, Ron Livingston as Henry Allen, and Kiersey Clemons as Iris West. In addition to Keaton's Batman, Ben Affleck will also be returning as The Dark Knight, bringing along DCEU stars Michael Shannon and Antje Traue, who last appeared in 2013's Man of Steel. The story is being kept under wraps, but the very inclusion of Keaton suggests that the film will tap into DC's multiverse, which is something that the Flash is able to do with his speed force powers (and has been demonstrated in prior DCEU films).
It would've been interesting to see what Keaton would've done had he stayed as Batman for the Schumacher films, but it will be even more interesting to see what he does as an older version of the character set within the new, expansive universe that is the DCEU. With the role looking to be a recurring one, it makes for new opportunities for Keaton to explore the character, potentially in ways that he may have wanted to before leaving it initially. Either way, fans are clamoring to see Keaton back in the suit and back in action, which they'll get this year with both The Flash and Batgirl.
Source: SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Podcast With Julia Cunningham
