Michael Keaton Teases First Shot Of Batman In The Flash Movie Is Great - Screen Rant

Michael Keaton revealed that he believes that the first shot of his Batman in The Flash will be immensely satisfying to fans of Tim Burton's 1989 film. Keaton originally played the role of the Dark Knight in Burton's Batman opposite Jack Nicholson's Joker and reprised the role in 1992 Batman Returns. Keaton's portrayal is beloved and helped introduce a new generation to the character and the comics. After months of rumors, it was finally confirmed in April that Keaton would be reprising his version of Batman for Andy Muschietti's take on The Flash opposite Ezra Miller in the eponymous role and Ben Affleck's Batman, as well as Sasha Calle as Supergirl.

The Flash will see Miller's Barry Allen attempt to travel back in time to prevent his mother's murder, leading to dire consequences for the timeline. The film will feature elements of the Flashpoint storyline from the DC comics, explaining why the Flash will encounter different versions of familiar superheroes. In the comics, the events of Flashpoint see Barry Allen waking up in a radically different timeline to his own, one where his mother never died. In this new timeline, Bruce Wayne was killed instead of his parents, causing his father to become Batman and his mother to become the Joker.

Speaking to Collider, Keaton revealed that slipping back into the role of Batman was "weirdly and ironically easy" and that he felt "emotional" in doing so. However, most interesting is that Keaton teased that the first shot of his version of Batman "is great" in his opinion, both in terms of imagery and in honoring Burton's original film. You can read Keaton's complete statement below:

“[It was] weirdly and ironically easy. A little bit emotional. Just a rush of memories. Without giving anything away, which I can’t, basically the first shot, not of the entire movie but let’s say the introduction [of Batman], is so good that when we walked on and started talking about a couple of shots and the angles, I went ‘whoa, this is big. This is great.’ I don’t even mean for me. Just the imagery, it’s great. And reminiscent, to some degree, of Tim Burton.”

In many ways, Burton's Batman and Keaton's portrayal of the character helped lay the groundwork for the modern superhero film. Understandably, there was a great deal of excitement around the actor's addition to The Flash. Keaton, too, is excited, evidenced by his admission that he felt "a little bit emotional" when he donned the cowl again. . It was previously revealed that both Keaton's versions of the batmobile and Batcave would appear in the film. Still, it's good to hear that The Flash will pay suitable homage to the 1989 film on a cinematic level as well.

It's currently unclear how large a role Keaton will have in The Flash. Still, it's generally understood that that film won't acknowledge the events of Batman Forever or Batman and Robin, considering that Batman was played by different actors (Val Kilmer and George Clooney, respectively). Hopefully, Keaton's appearance will be significant rather than a throwaway scene used to induce nostalgia. It's entirely possible, though, that Keaton's older Batman could be the Thomas Wayne version, keeping in line with of Flashpoint storyline, and could be an exciting way of twisting the Batman mythos to suit the modern films. Audiences will have to wait to find out when The Flash releases in 2022, but if Keaton is right then, they surely won't be disappointed.

More: Michael Keaton's Batman Return Needs To Avoid A Nostalgia Problem

Source: Collider

Key Release Dates

The Batman (2022)Release date: Mar 04, 2022
DC League of Super-Pets (2022)Release date: May 20, 2022
Black Adam (2022)Release date: Jul 29, 2022
The Flash (2022)Release date: Nov 04, 2022
Aquaman 2 (2022)Release date: Dec 16, 2022
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)Release date: Jun 02, 2023

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Nico Marrone (116 Articles Published)

Nico Marrone is a senior news writer for Screen Rant. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Masters in Postcolonial Literature by combining his love of African literature with comic-books. He has previously served as the film editor for The Student and currently serves as the assistant theatre editor for The Wee Review. When not geeking out about films and comics, Nico can be found spinning fire, running too many games of Dungeons & Dragons, and complaining about the Scottish weather.