While the original casting of Michael Keaton as Batman back in the late ‘80s raised more than a few fan eyebrows, the actor is now considered one of, if not the best to ever play Batman. While last year’s The Flash movie was generally not highly regarded by critics or fans, Keaton’s return as Batman was seen as a bright spot, and following another Batman-related exchange with Keaton at the 2024 Oscars, one has to wonder if the actor is entirely done in the role.
While fans may wonder what the future may hold for Michael Keaton as Batman, the actor admits that’s not spending a lot of time considering that possibility. While the actor tells the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he would “never say never” to play Batman again, he thinks that a lot would need to happen for his return to the role, and it’s just not something he worries about. Keaton said…
I don't think about it much. Never say never, I don't think. Everything depends upon something else.
The talk of Keaton’s Batman was back recently following the Academy Awards ceremony. Two actors who had both played Batman movie villains, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, presented an award together, and as part of the pre-award banter, they referenced “Batman” sitting in the front of the theater and Keaton played along from his seat.
If the previous DCEU had survived much past the existence of The Flash then, despite Batman’s actual fate in the movie, there might have been a greater opportunity to see him return. While such a thing certainly isn’t impossible with the new DCU under James Gunn, it seems likely that the new cinematic universe will want to focus on establishing its own Batman before bringing in any others.
We know that among the upcoming DC movies are a DCU Batman movie, The Brave and the Bold as well as Matt Reeves’ sequel to The Batman starring Robert Pattinson. The latter is an Elseworlds title, a project not connected to the main continuity of James Gunn’s Gods and Monsters, the first chapter of the new DCU. While one assumes that, at some point, we could see some sort of multiverse storyline enter the new continuity, that likely won’t happen until a lot of new characters have been established.
Still, it wouldn’t be impossible. It’s been suggested more than once that Michael Keaton would make an excellent elder Bruce Wayne as part of a Batman Beyond project, a story set in the future with Bruce as a mentor to a new Batman. Such a project could be done as an Elseworlds story without interfering in the new DCU. Michael Keaton may not worry about such things, but if anybody is thinking about them, they could still happen.
