Today, anybody who is paying attention would have to credit Michael Keaton with one of the best live-action Batman performances to date. However, you would never have guessed that would be the case considering the uproar when he was cast in the '80s. Tim Burton has talked about the backlash to the decision to cast Keaton in the role and, shortly after, Keaton recalled his own feelings on the matter.
In the late 1980s, Michael Keaton was known primarily as a comedic actor and he was just coming off one of his biggest roles ever, Beetlejuice. It was shortly after that that movie’s director, Tim Burton, was tapped to make a Batman movie. Speaking at Burton’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, Keaton talked about his director’s decision to cast him, and the way the idea was received in the press:
I just want to finish sharing a minute by talking about the whole Batman thing. [Tim] hands me a script and says, 'Please read this, and tell me what you think.’ Now, this is after Beetlejuice – after that performance, after that type of movie. And he says to the studio, 'I want that guy.' And I’ll never understand this, why anyone even cared. But the uproar – you would’ve thought we were being invaded. It was unbelievable. The press went crazy, but he stuck by me.
It’s certainly true that a lot of people were not excited by the idea of Michael Keaton as Batman. It’s been reported that more than 50,000 angry letters were sent to Warner Bros. in the wake of the announcement. It wouldn’t have been surprising if some at the studio were equally apprehensive after a reaction like that. A lot was riding on the new Batman movie, after all.
Despite the pressure, Tim Burton did indeed stand by his leading man, and the rest is history. Not only did the Mr. Mom star make two excellent Batman movies, but the actor says their impact goes far behind his own career. Keaton explained, sharing the following sentiments:
The guts it took for him to make that decision will always be special to me, obviously – but also what that [film] spawned. There are a lot of people making a lot of money out there with their superhero movies because of his choice and his vision of what those movies could be, because he changed everything. I’ve said it a hundred times, but it’s true.
Michael Keaton would become so popular that when he reprised the role in The Flash, it arguably became the most-talked-about part of the whole movie. Also, one of the reasons fans were disappointed the Batgirl movie was shelved is the fact that it included another performance from the actor as the Dark Knight. Keaton is less disappointed the movie didn't happen. He still got paid.
There’s certainly no argument that Tim Burton started it all and, perhaps, if he had gone with a more conventional choice, Batman would not have been the success that it was. Michael Keaton knows what it meant to his career, and many of us know as well. You can stream that 1989 flick as well as its sequel, Batman Returns, using a Max subscription now.
