How The Batsuits In The Flash Super Bowl Spot Reveal The History Of Michael Keaton's Batman
Michael Keaton is back as Batman! "The Flash" had its big trailer unveiling during the Super Bowl and officially revealed Keaton's Batman, who walks confidently toward the camera before delivering his immortal line: "I'm Batman." The man hasn't suited up since 1992's "Batman Returns" and in the interim, multiple generations of kids have grown up with different actors playing the Dark Knight. Some have never even known the thrill of seeing Keaton's caped crusader emerge from Anton Furst's grimy production design to mete out justice with what Jack Nicholson's Joker called his "wonderful toys." Now, the original blockbuster Batman will descend upon the 21st century when "The Flash" debuts on June 16, 2023. And fans of the OG Dark Knight, myself included, couldn't be more excited.
When Keaton's Batman appears in the "Flash" trailer, he's accompanied by a tasteful interpolation of Danny Elfman's original theme for 1989's "Batman." Once the exhilaration of seeing the actor's unmistakably piercing eyes behind the cowl wears off, however, we're left with many questions. Aside from wondering how director Andy Muschietti intends to work Tim Burton's singular stylistic vision into his multiversal adventure, I personally want to know what my childhood hero has been up to since he defeated Danny DeVito's Penguin in 1992. Have things in this Gotham escalated to include actual supervillains with fantastical powers? What happened to our beloved Michael Gough version of Alfred? Did Batman ever find Catwoman after that tease of a final shot in "Returns?" The new trailer may not answer those questions directly, but the Super Bowl TV spot — which contained a few shots not included in the full trailer — might offer some hints as to what Keaton's Bats has been doing while he's been away.
Bruce returns to the Batcave
The first significant shot of Michael Keaton that isn't included in the full trailer seemingly depicts a long-haired Bruce Wayne from behind as he opens a secret entrance to the Batcave hidden behind a bookshelf. The only other glimpse of this moment comes in the full trailer, which features a close-up shot of Keaton's Bruce reaching toward a photo of his parents on the wall next to the aforementioned shelves. Interestingly, his hands are bruised, suggesting he might be engaged in some vigilante work despite being retired.
We already know that Keaton's Batman is inactive when Ezra Miller's Barry Allen finds him in "The Flash," as the official synopsis states: "There are no Super Heroes to turn to. That is, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement." But just how long has Batman been out of action? There are no concrete details in the trailer, but Bruce's long hair and the shot of Allen pulling a tarp off the classic '89 Batmobile, suggest it's been a while. Whatever the answer, he obviously had quite the career before hanging up the cape, as the next shot in the Super Bowl spot appears to reveal.
One of the most memorable sequences from 1989's "Batman" is a suiting up montage that shows Keaton donning the rubber outfit and peering into the abyss. Then, in "Returns" he's shown walking into a vault with multiple suits and pulling one from a rack of duplicates. In the Super Bowl spot for "The Flash," he's clearly amassed a much larger collection. Not only that, the suits shown off in the teaser seem to tell the story of Keaton's Batman, from inception to his team-up with Barry Allen.
A timeline of Batsuits
The shot in question reveals multiple Batsuits, with the new outfit standing front and center. In the back, there's the Batsuit from "Batman" '89, which looks like it was retired after Batman's final confrontation with the Joker, judging by the mud on the emblem matching shots from the end of the first Burton Batman film. To the right of that sits the "Returns" suit. But on the very left there appears to be a version modeled on Batman's very first comic book appearance.
This suit has widened ears, just like the original design usually attributed to Bob Kane and Bill Finger (though reportedly other "ghost designers" were involved). Not only that, the suit features a circular belt buckle and a bat symbol similar to the very first Bat symbol from 1939's "Detective Comics" #27 as well as the version from the 1960s Adam West TV show.
But perhaps the most telling features are the holsters, which suggest this suit belongs to Batman's earliest days of crime fighting. Back when the character first debuted in the comics, the editors weren't above having the caped crusader use firearms, and even depicted him sitting in the gunner's seat of his Batplane in 1940's "Batman" #1 saying, "As much as I hate to take a human life, I'm afraid this time it's necessary!"
Over the years, the character has adopted his famous "no-kill" rule. And if you look at the way Keaton's suits are arranged in the Super Bowl spot, they tell the same story. This suit is the first one on the left and is the only one with holsters, suggesting that like the character in the comics, Keaton's Batman phased out the weapons as his career evolved.
The blue and gray finally makes it to the big screen
What might be the most pleasantly surprising outfit among the lot sits to the right of what we'll call the "Year One" suit. It's a blue-and-gray design, reminiscent of the look introduced in the 1940s but perhaps most closely associated with legendary comic artist Neal Adams, who drew the "Batman" comics in the late-'60s and '70s. Fans have been hoping to see this classic suit make its way into live-action ever since Keaton made molded black rubber the standard. Adam West wore a similar costume in the 1966 Batman TV show, but even that dulled the blue in favor of a darker cape and cowl.
This suit, on the other hand, not only preserves the rich blue of the cape, cowl, gloves, and boots from the comics, it comes complete with white eyes — another feature that some fans have been keen to see get the cinematic treatment. Interestingly enough, this isn't the only blue-and-gray suit that debuted with the Super Bowl spot. Another shot from the main trailer appears to show Ben Affleck's Batman in a similar getup grappling down a street, complete with a slightly more muted blue and gray color scheme and yellow utility belt. Whatever the significance of these suits, it seems Andy Muschietti was keen to deliver a much loved piece of Batman history to live action. Plus, this suit supports the theory that Keaton's Batman generally follows the trend of the character's development in the comic books.
Scuba? Knightmare? Gaslight?
Judging by the arrangement, after the blue-and-gray iteration, Michael Keaton's Batman used the '89 suit, meaning he went through two models before he adopted the look used in his debut movie. The "Batman Returns" suit is next, and after that outfit, things get interesting. The next one doesn't seem to reference a particular moment in Batman history, but has elements of many. It has almost a scuba theme, with a breathing tube and mask covering the cowl. But there's also the raised collar and what looks like claws on the gloves, which recall the suit worn by Azrael — the assassin who adopted Batman's mantle in the comics after Bruce Wayne had his back broken by Bane. There's also the possibility this suit was designed with Scarecrow in mind, providing some breathing apparatus to protect Keaton's Batman from the villain's famous fear toxin.
The final design in the lineup raises more questions than it answers. Presumably, it's the suit Keaton's Dark Knight wore before the sleek attire we see him don in "The Flash" trailer. This outfit, which features goggles on the cowl, vaguely resembles the Knightmare suit worn by Ben Affleck's Batman in 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." That suit eventually found its way into DC comics canon when Batman ventured into the desert with Catwoman. But Keaton's version, with its hooded cape and goggles, more closely resembles the costume from Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola's 1989 graphic novel, "Gotham By Gaslight." That story focused on a 19th-century version of Bruce Wayne who takes on Jack the Ripper after he shows up in Gotham. While I'm sure Keaton's Batman hasn't been tracking down 19th-century serial killers, it's interesting to see a similar outfit show up in the evolution of his overall look.
Keaton's Batman clearly has a story to tell
Is there any concrete info in this shot of the batsuits? Not really, beyond the fact that this version of Batman used guns and wore a wide array of outfits. But for fans who have been waiting to see Michael Keaton's Dark Knight return to the screen for 30 years and wondering what his version of the character might have been doing in the interim, this is an exciting shot. One of the big questions for me is how Andy Muschietti will convincingly bring a character whose movies relied so heavily on Tim Burton's singular vision of Gotham and its inhabitants into a modern VFX-heavy blockbuster. Keaton's Batman worked so well within the meticulously realized environs of Anton Furst and Bo Welch's Gotham, and it feels like it could be jarring to see him running around with the Flash and Supergirl, taking on invading aliens, and being given the CGI-double treatment.
But if these shots from the Super Bowl spot show anything, it's that Muschietti has at least thought about the character's history and the fact that there is a story to tell there. That bodes well for Keaton's appearance being more than a cynical nostalgia play. It seems strange that the filmmakers didn't use this as a chance to tease a Batman Beyond suit, but with all the upheaval going on over at Warner Bros. and James Gunn's plans for DC soon taking effect, perhaps that was cut prior to the trailer debuting. Either way, Batman, and especially Keaton fans, can nerd out on these small reveals until the movie finally arrives in June and once again proves that Keaton is still the best Batman.