UPDATE: The first trailer for The Flash was released during the Super Bowl, so watch it to see the first footage of Michael Keaton's Batman back in action after so long away.
This summer’s The Flash marks the long-awaited opportunity for Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen to finally lead his own movie after cameoing in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, Peacemaker and The CW’s “Crisis on Infinite Events” crossover, and being an ensemble player in both versions of Justice League. But there’s another reason The Flash is a big deal: it’s bringing back Michael Keaton’s Batman after more than three decades, and the poster for the upcoming DC movie seems to dispel a rumor about this version of the Caped Crusader, and the feature as a whole.
It was recently rumored that The Flash has cut out all teases for the future of both Michael Keaton’s Batman and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl from its ending, and there have even been claims that their roles have been reduced or they’ve been removed from the movie entirely. However, as you’ll see in the poster below released by Warner Bros. Pictures, the combination of the Scarlet Speedster being in the Batcave of Keaton’s Batman and the tagline “Worlds Collide” debunk such notions.
Michael Keaton was confirmed to be reprising Batman in The Flash back in August 2020, with this marking his first appearance as the character since 1992’s Batman Returns. In fact, aside from Ezra Miller playing two versions of Barry Allen in the movie, Keaton has essentially been hyped as The Flash’s next most important character, to the point that we heard him narrate the first batch of footage released at the 2021 DC FanDome and saw the back of his masked head. This poster for The Flash makes it abundantly clear he’s not going anywhere, and if I had to guess, I’d say that Sasha Calle’s Supergirl is safe too.
All this being said, it has been made clear over the last half year that the future of Michael Keaton’s Batman following The Flash isn’t nearly as bright as it used to be. There was a time when Keaton was set to take over as the DC Extended Universe continuity’s Bruce Wayne from Ben Affleck, who’s also appearing in The Flash. However, Keaton’s next DC movie, Batgirl, was cancelled last summer, and one of the massive Batman updates that came from James Gunn’s DC Universe: Chapter One presentation was that The Brave and the Bold will feature a new Batman opposite the Damian Wayne incarnation of Robin.
So while it is a big deal that Michael Keaton is returning as Batman in The Flash, longtime fans of this version of Gotham City’s protector should prepare for the increasingly likely possibility that this will be a one-and-done outing. Still, remember that this a story about the DCEU’s Barry Allen traveling through the multiverse after bringing unintentional consequences to his timeline, so count yourselves lucky that this is the Batman he runs into (pun fully intended) during his journey. Along with Keaton and the other previously-mentioned actors, The Flash’s cast includes Kiersey Clemons, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue, Ron Livingston and Maribel Verdú. Andy Muschietti directed the movie and Christina Hodson penned the script.
The public will have to wait until June 16 to judge The Flash, but the movie was reportedly received well in test screenings last year, and James Gunn described it as “one of the best superhero movies” he’s ever seen. Catch up on the previous appearances of Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen with your HBO Max subscription.
