Michael Keaton Hypes His Batman's Return With Photo Of His Bat-Eared Shadow
With "The Batman," starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, set to open in one week, Michael Keaton has taken to Instagram to remind people that Pattinson isn't the only Batman who is flying into theaters this year. Keaton, the original — and arguably still best — Batman will make his triumphant return later this year in "The Flash." We've already heard his voice and seen a glimpse of the back of his head and Bat-ears in the DC Fandome teaser for "The Flash." However, Keaton has posted a new image with the shadow of him in his Batman costume, which you can see below.
There isn't a heck of a lot to see here, but for fans of Keaton's Batman, it's another nice little tease for his long-awaited return in "The Flash." This year marks the 30th anniversary of the last time we saw Keaton in the role in Tim Burton's "Batman Returns," which opened on June 19, 1992.
The teaser for "The Flash" leaned hard into nostalgia for Keaton's Batman, utilizing one of Danny Elfman's old musical cues as Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) arrived at Wayne Manor. We also saw a glimpse of what looked like Keaton's classic cowl, smashed on the ground. Maybe part of the reason why Warner Bros. is playing things so close to the chest right now when it comes to showing Keaton back in his full Batman costume is that he will be wearing a slightly different costume this time around.
'What is that? Some kind of body armor?'
This being the Internet, which has eyes everywhere, the cat — or bat — is already somewhat out of the bag regarding Keaton's new Batsuit. This month, Batgirl Film News (via Den of Geek) posted some blurry set photos, which appear to show Keaton back in costume, filming "The Flash." We won't repost the images, since they're not officially sanctioned by Warner Bros., but what's interesting is that Keaton's Bruce Wayne appears to have given his Batsuit a little upgrade. The ab-heavy body armor of previous movies is gone in favor of a sleeker black design.
Elsewhere on Twitter, people have recently been posting images of John Wesley Shipp in costume as "The Flash," asking things like, "How is it possible that no one has come up with a better live-action Flash costume since 1990?" Shipp played the Flash on the 1990 TV series and he has been a part of the new "Flash" series on The CW. Opinion remains divided on Miller's costume, but who knows, maybe we could see another version of him at some point in a more classic costume. The teaser for "The Flash" did have Keaton talking up the DC multiverse, saying:
"Tell me something. You can go anywhere you want, right? Any timeline. Any universe. Why do you want to stay and fight to save this one? You changed the future. And you've changed the past."
In 2022, Warner Bros. is looking to both the future and the past with two distinctly different takes on Batman, one younger, one older. You can see Pattinson in the role when "The Batman" hits theaters on March 4, 2022. Keaton is on his way in "The Flash," which speeds into theaters exactly eight months later on November 4, 2022.