Overnight the news broke that Michael Keaton, who had been confirmed to don the cape and cowl once again in Andy Muschietti’s upcoming The Flash movie alongside current incumbent Ben Affleck, was in fact set to take the mantle as the DCEU’s Dark Knight on a permanent basis in a series of films of his own.
This all stems from a New York Times article in which journalist Brooks Barnes interviewed head of DC Films, Walter Hamada, about the multiverse approach of having Robert Pattinson occupy the role of Batman in an ‘Earth 2’ timeline, whereas the current crop of Justice League incarnations would wield their powers in an ‘Earth 2’ existence.
When Barnes was asked to clarify if the article meant that Warner Bros. would be doing two Batman franchises, one born from Matt Reeves’s The Batman, and another featuring a different actor, he replied with a single word that appears to have sent film fans into a flap befitting of the The Dark Knight’s cape. He said “Keaton”, and this answer has prompted a slew of articles speculating about Ben Affleck’s future in the role, which was always thought to end with Flashpoint (if it’s even still called that?), and whether Keaton would be the main Batman for the DCEU going forward.
Fast forward a few hours and Barnes took to Twitter once again to clarify exactly what he meant.
Been offline (moving apartments) and return to see this Michael Keaton craziness. I was referring to the *one film* that Keaton has been announced as being in, not a set of his own Batman films. If I had info on him beyond “The Flash,” I would have obviously put it in my article
— Brooks Barnes (@brooksbarnesNYT) January 5, 2021
So there you have it. After all of that it appears that outside of The Flash, Keaton won’t be appearing in his own set of Batman films…… for now.
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