Many of us probably wouldn’t be able to fit into the same outfits after three decades have passed, but this isn’t the case for Michael Keaton. As fans will know, Keaton is on board to return as Batman in The Flash movie, reprising the role he played in Tim Burton’s classic Batman movies. Because Keaton is still the most popular Batman actor through the eyes of so many fans, there is tremendous excitement surrounding his return to the role.
As it turns out, slipping back into the Batsuit was no problem at all for Michael Keaton. This week, the actor appeared for an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, and the conversation naturally turned to his Bruce Wayne comeback. Colbert showed his audience a throwback photo of Keaton as Batman three decades ago and asked Keaton if he thought he could still fit into the old Batsuit, and here’s what the actor had to say.
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“I did. Yeah, [I’ve already done it]. Svelte as ever, man,” Keaton said, noting that the outfit was the same size now as it was back in the Tim Burton days. Of how it felt to get back into character, he added, “It’s great, it was great.”
Andy Muschietti directs The Flash using a screenplay by Christina Hodson. The movie is a part of the DCEU, which means it’s set in a cinematic universe where Ben Affleck has already been established as Batman. To bring back Keaton means having The Flash fracturing the timeline and opening the door for different incarnations of Batman to appear in the same movie. Affleck is also appearing in The Flash for what could be his final performance as the character. You never know, however, and maybe Affleck will revisit that role as an older Bruce Wayne in about three decades.
Michael Keaton first played Batman in Tim Burton’s Batman, released in 1989. The actor reprise the role for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, and both of these flicks remain very popular with fans of the Dark Knight. At one point, Burton and Keaton were planning on doing a third movie, but those plans changed when Burton left the project with Keaton following soon after. There have been demands from fans for Keaton to come back to the role one day, perhaps with a Batman Beyond movie, leading to this return in The Flash.
“Frankly, in the back of my head, I always thought, ‘I bet I could go back and nail that motherf—er.’ And so I thought, ‘Well, now that they’re asking me, let me see if I can pull that off,'” Keaton has also said of his motivation to reprise the role, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Along with Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck as different Bat-men, The Flash brings back Ezra Miller to play the titular superhero. Also starring is Sasha Calle making her debut as Supergirl with other cast members including Kiersey Clemons, Maribel Verdu, and Ron Livingston. Rumor is Keaton will continue to appear in other movies as Batman after this project. The Flash will be released in movie theaters on Nov. 4, 2022. This news comes to us from The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Topics: Flashpoint, Flash, Batman