Batman Returns: What Michael Keaton's Return Means

There have been many superhero movies made especially in recent history. One character seems to always standout among them all: Batman. Some of Hollywood’s biggest names have worn the cowl and cape. While many people love Christian Bale’s take on Bruce Wayne/Batman, his wasn’t the best/most important. That honor belongs to Michael Keaton’s portrayal. According to multiple reports (along with Popline’s sources), Michael Keaton is set to reprise his role of Bruce Wayne for the first time in almost 30 years. Why is this a big deal?

Let’s first look at Tim Burton’s Batman first. The film is considered one of the premiere comic book movies. Burton takes his quirky sense of filmmaking and design to give people a version of Gotham City that seems like it is straight off the pages of the comic itself. What really stands out is his pick of Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne. Keaton was known as a comedic actor before being cast in this film. I think it is safe to say that if it wasn’t for Tim Burton and WB taking a chance on Keaton, his career would be vastly different and maybe not as big.

Michael Keaton’s Batman is a role that has withstood time. Sure, 1989’s Batman with Jack Nicholson is considered one of the best movies of all time. Jack’s Joker is the benchmark for Jokers, along with Heath Ledger’s Oscar winning performance. But while Christian Bale is revered as Bruce Wayne, it’s still Michael Keaton’s take on the Caped Crusader that people still compare other actor’s performances. The Batman logo that people truly love is from this take on Batman. From mugs to t-shirts, we see Michael Keaton’s logo everywhere. If it wasn’t for his take, we wouldn’t have the incredible line “I’m Batman.” Keaton to this day still says the line just as good as he did 30 years ago. And most people still consider him Batman.

So why is it such a big deal that Keaton is returning to his most iconic role? Well for starters, WB has had trouble with establishing a true DC Cinematic Universe. Outside of Wonder Woman, WB’s attempt at a connected universe has been poorly received. Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice wasn’t respected until they released the R-rated director’s cut, while Justice League, Suicide Squad, and (most recently) Birds of Prey have had mediocre to poor reviews. Financially, the films are doing well. So WB needs to do something big which they teased on CW recently: Multiverse.

With Michael Keaton appearing in The Flash, WB and DC can retcon/correct mistakes made in the past, but also establish what they want to do in the future and address other past questions. For starters, they can give fans answers to questions they had coming out of 1992’s Batman Returns in regards to Bruce Wayne and Batman’s future. They can establish a true film canon with the multiverse which can address the multiple takes on Batman including Matt Reeve’s The Batman trilogy with Robert Pattinson, which will be completely separate much like 2019’s Joker was. Finally, they can officially give Ben Affleck’s Batman a proper send off and replace him with Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne. For the future of DC, they can bring in Keaton and establish his Bruce Wayne as the Nick Fury-esque character that the DCEU has desperately needed. Keaton is perfect for the mentor role his Bruce Wayne can be to Jason Mamoa’s Aquaman and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, while also introducing new character including the Bat Family. Batgirl has been in development for a few years and fans have been craving a Batman Beyond film. Most importantly, it brings back arguably the most popular portrayal of Batman/Bruce Wayne when Ben Affleck’s portrayal, while not bad/unpopular, is connected to bad movies.

The future is bright for DC! The new leadership at WB is making all of the right choices with DC. Bringing back Zack Snyder to release his Justice League on HBO Max is a great move and now following it up by bringing in arguably the most popular Batman is another winning move by WB. Fans will surely be counting down the days to seeing Michael Keaton back on the big screen as Bruce Wayne again. The Batcave has its proper owner back once again.

Batman and Batman Returns starring Michael Keaton are available to stream on HBO Max.

Follow Thomas on Twitter (@t_shults89) & Instagram (@t_shults89). And don’t forget to follow The Hollywood Speakeasy on Instagram: @TheHollywoodSpeakeasy