Michael Keaton Returns as Batman in ‘The Flash’ — with a Few Tweaks

Without question, one of the most thrilling aspects of DC’s “The Flash” is the reappearance of Michael Keaton as Batman after a 31-year hiatus from the role, something that was as exciting for the film’s director as it is for the audience. “I was a teenager when the Tim Burton movie came out and I was blown away by it,” Andy Muschietti told IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “I was very attracted to the idea of finding Bruce Wayne 30 years later and fantasizing what his life would have been.”

Bringing back Keaton’s iteration of Wayne as created by the actor and Tim Burton in the 1989 “Batman” raised a key question for Muschietti: How much should he carry over from the Burton “Batman” films and where did he want to strike out in his own directions? “The insertion of that story set up big questions,” Muschietti said. “How closely do we abide by the aesthetics and the tone?” Some choices were dictated by Muschietti’s desire to make “The Flash” a more grounded comic book movie than Burton’s films. “One thing I knew for sure is that I didn’t want to emulate the cinematography of the earlier movies, because the level of fantasy in the design would be prohibitive.”

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Yet Muschietti did want to create a convincing evolution for Keaton’s character from 1992 to 2023, which meant tweaking various designs from the earlier movies. “I tried to blend the worlds and reach a balance where it’s still believable that Michael Keaton exists in this timeline,” Muschietti said, noting that one of his first steps was to run his ideas about the character by Keaton. “There was a lot of talk about what happened to Bruce, why do we find him the way that we find him? The reason why he quit being Batman was very important to me.” In fact, there was more material relating to Wayne’s journey in the original cut, but Muschietti took it out for pacing. “It’s a very revealing and important scene, and you’ll see it in the extras on the DVD,” Muschietti said.

The history Muschietti and Keaton discussed found its way into every element of the production and costume design when it came to Wayne Manor and Batman’s outfits and props. “I didn’t want to find Bruce Wayne in the same spot where we left him 30 years ago,” Muschietti said. “I wanted to create a backstory where he continued being Batman for a few more years, hence the new gadgets and technology. The suit is slightly different, the Batwing is different — it’s a three-seater now and has new rotating technology — everything looks like the designs from the Tim Burton movies, but slightly altered. I just had fun exploring it.”

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