Michael Keaton may be reprising his iconic role of Batman for Warner Brothers’ upcoming The Flash superhero film.
The Hollywood Reporter is stating that the actor who famously played Gotham City’s Caped Crusader in director Tim Burton’s blockbuster 1989 Batman and its 1992 sequel Batman Returns for the long in-development superhero film that will star Ezra Miller as the super-fast superhero he has already played in a handful of the films that are part of Warners’ DC Extended Universe films, most notably 2017’s Justice League.
As the Reporter explains –
If a deal makes, Keaton wouldn’t just return for Flash but possibly for several other DC-oriented film projects. Sources tell THR that the role being envisioned for the veteran actor is akin to the role played by Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something of a mentor or guide or even string puller. Batgirl is one the projects in development that could fall under that win.
Previously, Ben Affleck has played Batman, aka Bruce Wayne in Warners DCEU movies like Superman V Batman: Dawn Of Justice and Justice League.
Needless to say, this is some surprising news. Especially given that Keaton’s work in the film Birdman, in which he played an actor looking to distance himself from his previous fame from appearing in a blockbuster superhero franchise and instead reinvent himself as a serious stage actor.
But more interestingly, it raises some questions about how they are going to use as Nick Fury-type mentor. We have already seen the beginning of that relationship between Flash, aka Barry Allen, and Batman in Justice League. And we have seen Batman be the one who united the superheros in Justice League. So going by this report it seems as if Warners is looking to continue to have some level of inter-connectivity between their DCEU films, an inter-connectivity they had seemed to be backing away from in more recent years. With last month’s news that Henry Cavil was in talks to reprise his DCEU role of Superman, it certainly does seem like Warners may have some big plans brewing for their superhero franchise.
