Michael Keaton famously played Batman in Tim Burton’s take on the DC hero in Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). Now, over 30 years later, he’s thrown on the cape and mask once more for Andy Muschietti’s The Flash and recently opened up about how it feel standing in Batman’s boots again.
“It was shockingly normal. It was weird,” the actor says in an interview with Jakes Takes. “And like I went, ‘Oh! Oh yeah. That’s right.’ But also, then you start to play the scenes and a lot of memories, a lot of really interesting sense memories [come back].”
In many ways, the Birdman actor says he was brought back three decades to his time working with Burton when filming his opening scene.
“Just a rush of memories,” he says in an interview with Collider. “Without giving anything away, which I can’t, basically the first shot, not of the entire movie but let’s say the introduction [of Batman], is so good that when we walked on and started talking about a couple of shots and the angles, I went, ‘Whoa, this is big. This is great.’ I don’t even mean for me. Just the imagery, it’s great. And reminiscent, to some degree, of Tim Burton.” Which makes sense, considering they’re bringing back Keaton’s original Batmobile and Batcave for The Flash.
The Flash finally began filming in April, bringing back numerous familiar faces for the multiverse feature based on the Flashpoint comics. Ben Affleck’s Batman will return, as well as Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, and Ron Livingston will play Barry’s dad (replacing Billy Crudup from a small role in Justice League). Sasha Calle will also make her debut as the first Latinx Supergirl in the film.
In addition to The Flash, Keaton will also appear in the upcoming Hulu drama miniseries Dopesick, which tackles America’s opioid crisis, and stars in action-thriller The Protege, which hits theaters on August 20. The Flash is set to premiere sometime in November 2022.