Word has come that Michael Keaton is in talks to reprise the role of Batman for the first time in 30 years. If the negotiations between the actor and Warner Bros. prove fruitful, Keaton will reportedly be appearing in 2022’s The Flash , with that film setting up his character to become the DC movie equivalent of Nick Fury.
Needless to say, this is a big deal, both for diehard fans of Keaton’s Batman and for anyone curious about the future shape of DC’s movie lineup. Keaton’s return could herald an entirely new approach to this cinematic universe, one where other classic actors can return and the barriers between worlds bleed together. Read on to learn more about how Keaton’s return could transform the DC movies. Ranking the Batman Movies 13 IMAGES The Flashpoint Effect Reports indicate that The Flash movie is inspired by 2011’s Flashpoint, a comic book storyline that involves Barry Allen travelling back in time to prevent his mother’s murder and accidentally creating a new, darker DC timeline in the process. Even after Barry undoes the damage he caused, Flashpoint ends with the classic DC Universe being reborn as “The New 52,” a world that retains some of its prior history but has been streamlined and changed.
The whole purpose behind DC’s New 52 relaunch was to make its comic book line more accessible and easy to follow for new readers. Similarly, 2013’s animated movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox used Barry’s time-altering actions as the foundation for a new shared universe that continued through the recent Justice League Dark: Apokolips War . Is it possible the upcoming live-action Flash movie is intended to do the same for DC’s cinematic universe?
As it is, it’s hard to connect the dots between DC’s upcoming movie projects. Certain films like The Flash and Wonder Woman 1984 are continuing established DCEU continuity, while others like Matt Reeves’ The Batman seem to be operating in their own little corners, and others still like James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad are nebulous. The recent announcement that Justice League’s Snyder Cut is coming to HBO Max only further complicates matters. Will DC even be attempting to have one consistent superhero universe going forward? Loading
The Flash may be aimed at addressing some of these continuity questions and setting the stage for a more consistent universe moving forward. As Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen travels through time and the Speed Force, he may alter the universe once known as the DCEU. The resulting new world may draw in a mix of DCEU veterans like Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Henry Cavill’s Superman and older favorites like Keaton’s Batman, all while writing out characters who aren’t expected to return (Ben Affleck’s Batman, Jared Leto’s Joker, etc.). The idea being that post-The Flash, these movies will fit together in a way the DC lineup has never managed before.
Continuing the Burton-Verse With both Keaton and director Tim Burton dropping out of the Batman movies after 1992’s Batman Returns, and with the planned Catwoman spinoff starring Michelle Pfeiffer never coming to pass, there’s a lot about the Burton-verse that remains unresolved. Sure, the main series got two more sequels in 1995’s Batman Forever and 1997’s Batman & Robin, but they barely seem like they’re part of the same universe. In fact, there’s even a popular fan theory called ” The Batman Theory of Everything ,” which postulates that those two sequels are actually in-universe movies made in tribute to Keaton’s Bruce Wayne.
Bringing back Keaton’s Batman gives Warners a unique opportunity to provide fans closure after three decades. We have to assume The Flash will give us some idea of what’s transpired in the many years since Batman Returns. Did Bruce ever find happiness? Or is he a solitary loner still brooding over the mistakes he’s made? We’d be inclined to guess the latter. Heck, why not bring back Michelle Pfeiffer’s Selina Kyle while they’re at it? “ And much like how 2006’s Superman Returns acts as a direct sequel to 1980’s Superman II while ignoring the later sequels, we imagine The Flash will ignore everything that happened after Batman Returns. That would give the film an opportunity to show us some of the casting choices that never panned out in the ’90s, including allowing Marlon Wayons to play Dick Grayson and Billy Dee Williams to actually don the Two-Face makeup. Heck, why not bring back Michelle Pfeiffer’s Selina Kyle while they’re at it?
One intriguing possibility is that the world of Batman ’89 will turn out to be the Flashpoint timeline created by Miller’s Barry. After Barry travels back to save his mother, perhaps the DCEU of old is replaced by Burton’s version of the DCU, complete with all that wonderful Anton Furst-designed architecture. In the end, we suspect the world of Batman ’89 will be wiped away in favor of a new, streamlined DC movie-verse, but Keaton’s Batman himself could very well remain as the sole survivor of a dead world. That could add extra layers to his role as an aging mentor to a younger generation of heroes, while also allowing Keaton’s version of Bruce to coexist with Robert Pattinson’s younger, less experienced Batman. Loading
Batman Beyond Following the release of Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. briefly toyed with the idea of a live-action Batman Beyond movie before pursuing other options for revamping the franchise. That hasn’t stopped die-hard Beyond fans from campaigning for a movie, with many arguing Keaton is now the right age to play an elderly Bruce Wayne guiding a young Terry McGinnis through the superhero ropes.
This casting news would suggest those fans might finally be getting their wish. For all intents and purposes, it sounds like the studio wants Keaton to be the Batman Beyond of whatever cinematic universe exists post-The Flash. The Hollywood Reporter describes the character as a Nick Fury-like figure mentoring new heroes and generally serving as the glue that ties this universe together. Batman Beyond
That’s not to say we necessarily expect Terry McGinnis himself to show up in these movies. THR points specifically to the upcoming Batgirl movie as another project in which Keaton is being eyed to appear. His Bruce Wayne may be the force that molds Barbara Gordon (or Cassandra Cain, or Stephanie Brown) into an effective vigilante. This raises the question of whether the DC movie-verse even needs a traditional Batman going forward. Perhaps Matt Reeves’ proposed trilogy will be allowed to exist on its own, a la Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight movies, while the shared universe focuses on Keaton’s aged Bruce and younger heroes like Batgirl and Nightwing. Actors Who Almost Played Batman 13 IMAGES Meet The Outsiders As the Rich Uncle Pennybags of the DCU, Batman is responsible for funding the Justice League and ensuring the world’s greatest heroes always have a headquarters to call their own. We saw as much in 2017’s Justice League, when Affleck’s Batman donated the abandoned Wayne Manor as the newly minted team’s headquarters. But Batman has been known to spearhead other teams, and we have to wonder if Keaton’s return may be specifically laying the seeds for the group known as The Outsiders. Could they become the next big DC movie team after the Suicide Squad and the Birds of Prey?
The Outsiders have taken many forms in DC’s comics, but they tend to be portrayed as a team tasked with carrying out missions too dangerous or politically sensitive for the Justice League. For example, the original team came together to deal with a coup in the wartorn nation of Markovia. The Outsiders tend to be co-run by Batman and Black Lightning, with the roster often including characters like Katana, Metamorpho, Geo-Force and Halo.
The fact that THR describes Keaton’s Batman as a Nick Fury-like figure definitely suggests he’ll have need of something like The Outsiders. We’ll no doubt see the Justice League in some form or another in future DC movies (regardless of how many of the 2017 cast wind up sticking around), but we may see teams like The Outsiders spring up as an alternative to the League, allowing an older, more jaded Batman carry out his own agenda. Loading
DC Movie Cameos Galore If Warners is going through the trouble of signing Keaton to a multi-picture deal, we have to assume he won’t be the only DC veteran reprising their role in The Flash. Barry Allen’s trip through time and space could allow for a real who’s who lineup of DC fan-favorites. At a bare minimum, we’d hope the movie would repay the Arrowverse’s favor by including a cameo of Grant Gustin’s Flash . But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The studio could really mine the breadth and depth of its catalog to feature epic DC cameos. The Flash could feature Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern, Keanu Reeves’ John Constantine, Brandon Routh’s Superman, Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman, Christian Bale’s Batman and any number of actors from Smallville, the Arrowverse and DC Universe’s live-action shows. The movie could even allow DC to poke fun at its own checkered movie history with tongue-in-cheek cameos of Halle Berry’s Catwoman or Josh Brolin’s Jonah Hex.
It’s not as if Warner Bros. needs to squeeze all these cameos into one movie. Keaton’s continued presence in these films could herald a very different approach to DC continuity on the big screen, one where past movies are openly acknowledged and celebrated and multiple versions of the same character are allowed to coexist. That’s always been a flaw in Warners’ approach – that reluctance to have multiple live-action versions of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman exist simultaneously. Miller’s Flash appearing in Crisis on Infinite Earths was a sign that philosophy could be changing, and Keaton’s return as Batman is an even clearer example. Rather than worrying about which movies “count” in the current cinematic universe, the studio can and should treat all of these different takes as valid and meaningful. Why not take a page from the new DC comic book series Dark Nights: Death Metal and adhere to the mantra “It all matters”? If Keaton’s Batman is back, then all bets are off.
For more, see how we ranked all the Batman movies . The Flash Movie’s Possible DCEU Cameos 18 IMAGES Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter .
