Michael Keatonhas reminisced about the “ballsy” move that led to him being cast asBatmanin the 1989 movie. While it seems impossible to think that anyone else could have brought the Dark Knight to life in his original big screen outing, any doubts Keaton had were nothing compared to the skepticism of fans.
Keaton is currently living his best life, following up his return as Batman inThe Flashbyreprising another of his iconic roles in this year’sBeetlejuice Beetlejuice. However, when his casting as Batman was announced, it was met with a lot of skepticism from fans – as can be seen in the recently resurfaced video below.
In a new interview withGQ, Keaton has retrospectively discussed some of his best-known roles, and while talking about Batman, he revealed how his casting certainly didn’t get a unanimous seal of approval at the time – something the actor himself couldn’t really understand the fuss over. He said:
“When they said, ‘We’re thinking of doing Batman,’ I said, ‘Wait, you’re going to make a movie of Batman?’ Yeah, there was Superman, but that’s Superman, which Dick Donner did, which was really, really good. Very charming, actually. And Chris Reeve was great, and it had humor, and it was like, you know… So, the fact that Tim said, ‘That guy. I want that guy.’ Like, why people even cared one way or another that much is still baffling. But, still, that was a ballsy move on his part. And we also had a nice working relationship, you know, from Beetlejuice, so I think he felt he and I would get along through this. You know, we work well together.”
Will Michael Keaton Return as Batman?
When Keaton’s return to his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman was announced, it was not just for his appearance inThe Flash.Originally, Keaton was also meant to appear in Batgirl, andpotentially his own follow-up moviethat was reportedly in development just prior to the DCEU finally succumbing to its fate and being superseded by James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU.
So, in a poser worthy of the Riddler, the question is whether there isstill a place for Keaton to make another appearance as Batmanor if his time is now truly over. For his part, Keaton seems more than willing to reprise the role once more, but also acknowledged recently that it really isn’t something he constantly thinks about or has any control over.
Of course, much of the recent interest in Batman was instigated byhis appearance in the guise of Bruce Wayne at this year’s Oscarsceremony, when the actor perfectly bounced off former Batman villains Mr Freeze and the Penguin – aka actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito – who roasted him while presenting an award. The moment became one of the biggest viral highlights of the night, and found a lot of fans asking “what if…?”
5 Reasons Why Micheal Keaton is Still the Best Batman
Michael Keaton’s Batman is still so popular all these years later they brought him back for The Flash, and this is why he is still the best Batman.
As it stands, the only Batmen that we will be seeing in the near future are Robert Pattinson’s version in the sequel to 2022’sThe Batman, and a whole new iteration of the character in the DCU’sThe Brave and the Bold. When it comes to seeing Keaton donning the Batsuit again…as the actor himself said, “Never say never.”
1989’sBatmancan currently be found streaming on Max
