A few months back, it hit the rumor mill that Warner Bros. was planning to bring back Michael Keaton’s Batman in the upcomingFlashmovie starring Ezra Miller. Keaton’s Dark Knight would join Batfleck, another past Batman returning for the Fastest Man Alive’s big-screen standalone debut, in a story set across a sprawling DC multiverse. After the rumors remained unconfirmed for a while, Keaton revealed that he’d been offered theFlashmovie, but thathe was still mulling over the offer.
Earlier this month, right beforeThe Flashstarted filming, Keaton wasconfirmed to be appearingin the movie. The movie will acknowledge the events ofBatmanandBatman Returns, but ignoreBatman ForeverandBatman & Robin, which technically took place in the same continuity, but featured a different actor as Batman (Val Kilmer and George Clooney, respectively). Keaton’s older Bruce Wayne will act as a sort of mentor to Miller’s Barry Allen after his attempt to travel back in time and prevent his mother’s murder has unexpected consequences on the larger spacetime continuum.
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If Keaton enjoys playing an older Bruce Wayne inThe Flashand his characterization in the movie manages to stick the landing, DC should follow it up witha live-actionBatman Beyondmovie. Not only would aBatman Beyondmovie allow Keaton to stick around in the DCEU’s multiverse; it would allow an exciting young star to take on the Batman mantle in a futuristic setting. Since it began airing in the ‘90s, the series’ near-future setting is 2019, but it’s supposed to be roughly 20 years after Batman’s heyday. In a futuristic Gotham, an elderly Bruce Wayne trains a teenage ward named Terry McGinnis to take on the mantle of Batman.
Much like the series itself did when it hit the airwaves, aBatman Beyondmovie could offer a totally fresh take on the Batman mythos in an overcrowded Bat-market. Thanks to Marvel’s success with the superhero genre and Batman’s legacy as possibly the most popular superhero in the world, Warner Bros. serves up a new Batman rebootevery five or so years. As long as the studio is hellbent on amassing an army of Batman franchises, it might as well follow in Sony’sSpider-Versefootsteps and introduce alternate versions of its most iconic characters.
After 50,000 fans wrote complaint letters to Warner Bros. to protest his casting (settinga decades-long trend of Batman fans underestimating actors), Keaton emerged as the quintessential Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton’s groundbreaking 1989 blockbuster. He captured the character’s duality, humanized Bruce Wayne, improvised a bunch of his most memorable lines, and even created the “Batman voice,” now a staple of the character. Having made his name in comedy (the reason for most of the angry fan letters), Keaton has recently proven his abilities as a dramatic actor with his revelatory Oscar-nominated performance as a has-been movie star inBirdman. It would be interesting to see the nuance that Keaton would bring to old man Batman as a retired crimefighter passing on the torch.
Fans have posted a bunch of casting ideas for a live-action Terry McGinnis online, with Timothee Chalamet, Joe Keery, Dylan O’Brien, and Nick Robinson often coming up as popular choices. While these are all talented actors who would probably have an interesting take on the character, aBatman Beyondmovie might benefit from finding a great unknown teen actor for the lead role. Keaton will be there to provide the star power. Terry doesn’t need to be played by a big-name actor; he just needs to be played by an actor who’s perfect for the part.
Since Batman is a quintessential film noir antihero and crime-ridden Gotham City is a quintessential film noir setting, Batman movies are often influenced by film noir. Christopher Nolan’s vision forThe Dark Knightwasheavily influenced by Michael Mann’s L.A. noirHeat. Matt Reeves has noted neo-noir classicsKluteandChinatownas major inspirations for his upcoming rebootThe Batman. Batman stories are ideal for a noir framework.
ButBatman Beyond’s sci-fi angle gives filmmakers the opportunity to create a Batman movie inthe “tech noir” subgenre. A potential movie adaptation’s portrayal of a futuristic Gotham could take influence from the dystopian futuristic Los Angeles seen in Ridley Scott’sBlade Runner. The series also goes beyond the noir elements and explores a lot of the motifs and themes of cyberpunk – a live-action adaptation would basically beThe Matrixstarring Batman.
If Warner Bros. learned anything from the failure ofBatman & Robinfollowed bythe success ofBatman Begins, it’s that audiences prefer darker Batman movies. Although co-creator Bruce Timm insists it was conceived as a family-friendly cartoon,Batman Beyondwas praised throughout its run for digging into darker themes and storylines than any other contemporary kids’ animated series. The series used its futuristic setting to examine technology’s impact on society and also delved into Bruce Wayne’s psychology in surprising depth.
As long as DC is leaning into the multiverse element of its franchise to offer multiple simultaneous incarnations of iconic characters, a live-actionBatman Beyondmovie seems like a no-brainer. Warner Bros. has been avoiding big swings sincethe unceremonious end of the SnyderVerse, but the DCEU could do with a couple of big swings. Diving into Gotham’s future with a teenage Batman could mark a radical change of pace for DC’s shared on-screen universe.
