Thirty years, several costumes, and even more actors and iterations later, and Tim Burton's Batman could be donning the cape once again. That’s right, Michael Keaton—who played the DC character in the 1989
Batman and 1992
Batman Returns films—is in talks to reprise his iconic role.Before you break out the Bat-dances though, know that Keaton’s reprisal is only rumoured.
The Wrap first broke the news on June 22,
reporting that the actor is in talks to play the chiseled superhero one more time. There’s a catch though: if he does agree to star, it won’t be in a solo film. The appearance would actually be a cameo in the upcoming Ezra Miller-led
The Flash, and it would serve to introduce the complex idea of multiverses that the DC comics are known for.For those who aren’t into the comic jargon, the multiverse refers to a number of alternate universes that are linked to the larger DC universe, and are often used to allow different versions of the same character to interact.[video_embed id='1980943']RELATED: Jamie Foxx puts on massive muscle for Mike Tyson biopic [/video_embed]Considering that, it would make total sense for the movie to jump to some futuristic timeline in which Bruce Wayne has aged—gracefully or otherwise. It’s something the televised
Crisis on Infinite Earths crossovers managed to pull off on The CW last winter, at any rate. At the time, viewers were tickled pink to see people like Burt Ward from the original
Batman TV series walking the streets of Gotham City on Earth-66, or former
The Flash star John Wesley Shipp pop up on Earth-90.How those multiverses will translate onto the big screen is still a mystery, but Keaton’s potential casting is enough to get fans riled up—he was even trending on Twitter on June 23, 31 years to the day after the release of
Batman. You can’t blame people for being excited at the possibilities that this casting and timeline shift may open up—who wouldn’t be pumped for a scene between, say, Joaquin Phoenix’s The Joker and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman?
According to
The Hollywood Reporter,
if Keaton inks this deal he could appear in more than just
The Flash. Unnamed sources tell the publication that the overall idea would be to have the Caped Crusader appear across a variety of upcoming films in a mentor-like capacity. The best comparison would be Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury character, who appears across the Marvel Universe. If true,
Batgirl could be the next movie Keaton would sign up for after
The Flash, which is scheduled to begin production in London next spring.While fans wait for official confirmation from Warner Bros. or Keaton’s camp, the world of Batman carries on with Robert Pattinson. The
Twilight star was filming his take on the iconic character for the upcoming
The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, before the coronavirus pandemic forced a shutdown. The film was given
the go-ahead to resume production across the pond last month; an October 2021 release date is still on the books.[video_embed id='1982063']BEFORE YOU GO: The first trailer for ‘Hamilton’ is here [/video_embed]
