Michael Keaton portrays Batman in Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns.
In June 2020, it was announced that WB were negotiating with Keaton to appear in The Flash. The announcement article confirmed it will disregard the work of Joel Schumacher, creating a new Multiverse that explains various contradictory changes in the company’s characters.[1]
Characters portrayed by Michael Keaton in the Batman Universe
Collaborations
- He appeared with Batman Returns co-star Danny DeVito in the crime/gangster movie Johnny Dangerously and also the 2019 live-action Disney movie Dumbo .
- He co-starred with Batman Forever actress Nicole Kidman in the 1993 drama film My Life.
Trivia
- When he first read the script for Batman, unaware of the comics and only seen a few episodes of the comedic William Dozier TV show. Keaton only agreed to read it as favor to Tim Burton, whom he had worked with on Beetlejuice and trusted his judgment. He became fascinated with what the film was trying to do, and finally accepted.
- In preparation for the role he read Frank Miller's 1986 Dark Knight series.
- When it was announced that Keaton was going to play the title character in Batman, Warner Bros. office was flooded with countless letters from comic-book fans, insisting that Keaton was the worst possible choice for the role. Batman creator Bob Kane was especially exasperated. Looking back, Keaton is now considered one of the best of the Batman performers, and other actors are personally measured by his example. Keaton remarks: "I am Batman. I'm very secure in that."
- When director Joel Schumacher took over the Batman franchise, Keaton left, as he disliked the new lighter, glossier, campier tone the films were taking. He has been vocal about disliking the original Batman Forever script by the Batchlers. Akiva Goldsman's revised shooting script also failed to impress Keaton.
- It was his personal idea to cut down on a lot of the lines of Batman in Batman Returns, so his character would seem especially enigmatic.