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Yes, you read that correctly. It has been confirmed that almost 30 years after last playing the Caped Crusader, Michael Keaton is back as the Batman in DC’s upcoming film The Flash.
The last time Keaton suited up as Batman was for Batman Returns in 1992, the sequel to the 1989 film Batman, which he also starred in.
Just for context, that was so long ago that, at the time, you couldn’t access the internet from your mobile phone, and Mark Zuckerberg was only eight years old.
Keaton was supposed to continue as Batman for the third and fourth films of that series but dropped out of the project after Joel Schumacher replaced director Tim Burton.
Interestingly, they intend to portray Keaton as “the same Batman” as from those films and explore what’s happened in his life since then, but they are planning to ignore the two films Keaton was not a part of.
The news will come as music to the ears of his fans who have been following this story closely because it wasn’t too long ago that he cast doubt on whether or not this was going to happen due to difficulties with travel and the fact that he has so much going on right now.
“I called them and said, I have to be honest with you. I can’t look at anything right now. I’m so deep into this thing I’m doing,” Keaton said, according to Digital Spy.
“I’m really into work right now. I don’t know why, but I am, and so, yeah, I mean, you know, to tell you the truth, somewhere on my iPad is an iteration of the whole Flash thing that I haven’t had time yet…”
For example, he’s just finished filming on two separate movies, Morbius and The Asset, which are both due to be released next year, and is starring in a TV mini-series Dopesick, set to come out later this year.
Even though he initially created some doubt about whether or not he would return as Batman, it would’ve been a tough gig for him to turn down. Not only did his original stint as Batman do wonders for his career, but it is also a character that is beloved the world over.
Batman is one of the most popular superheroes ever created. The character’s impact on popular culture has seen the creation of widely successful television series such as Gotham and Batman: The Animated Series.
In video gaming, Batman: The Enemy Within and Batman: Arkham Knight are two of the most popular games available on the online store Steam. There is also a Batman ’66 Pinball Machine and a board game titled Batman: Gotham City.
The superhero has left its traces in the iGaming industry too, as there is a casino game titled Batman Begins that can be found among the top online slots at brands like bgo Casino and NetBet Vegas.
The news that Keaton would indeed be returning to play Batman in The Flash was broken by his talent agency ICM, who confirmed to the media that the star had travelled to the UK to begin filming with the rest of the cast and crew.
Unfortunately, they haven’t released any other details, such as how much of the movie he will be a part of.
Ezra Miller will reprise the role of the Flash that he has held since first appearing as Barry Allen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016.
Kiersey Clemons (Zack Snyder’s Justice League) will return as Iris West, with Sasha Calle joining the cast as Supergirl.
While the film only began shooting in April 2021, the production team has ambitious plans and intends for it to be completed and ready for release as early as November next year.