Recently, news broke that Michael Keaton is in talks to return as Batman in multiple DCEU movies. While there is no official confirmation, the DC Comics fandom has gone into overdrive speculating about the exact nature of Keaton's work in the DCEU. THR reporter Borys Kit has hinted on Twitter that the actor might ultimately be seen in the role of the elder statesman of the DCEU rather than a practicing superhero.

"If these talks make, sources say Keaton could end up playing Batman in a mentor capacity, a bit like Sam Jackson's Nick Fury, and appear in multiple movies. BATGIRL is one of the possible projects."

Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, the head of Shield who has appeared in almost every MCU film so far, serves as the lynchpin of the franchise. Instead of being an out-and-out superhero, Fury operates behind the shadows to bring together Earth's defenders against threats to the planet and even the universe.

It would make sense to see Michael Keaton play a similar role in the DCEU. While the MCU still operates on a single-universe basis, at least until Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness comes out, the DCEU has already established the existence of the multiverse, of which every DC live-action TV show and movie ever made is a part.

What that means is the DCEU already has a continuity that allows for multiple iterations of the same character. That means Keaton's, Ben Affleck's, and Robert Pattinson's Batman all technically exist in the same massive, multiversal reality, and can cross over into each other's world.

This would allow Keaton to play an older version of the character he portrayed in Tim Burton's Batman films, who recruits new heroes into a multiverse-spanning group of Earth's protectors.

There is already a precedent for such a character in the Batman Beyond animated series and their comic spinoffs, where an old and elderly Bruce Wayne acts as a mentor for the new Batman, Terry McGinnis. If a relatively minor character such as Nick Fury could become the MCU's lynchpin, imagine how much cooler it would be to see Keaton's Batman fulfill that role for the DCEU.

Interestingly, Keaton might be gearing up to play a similar role for Marvel movies as well. The trailer for Morbius has confirmed an appearance by Keaton in the role of Adrian Toomes aka Vulture from the MCU. This is the biggest confirmation fans have received so far that the Marvel movies Sony is currently crafting into a franchise are connected to the MCU. It is also strongly hinted that Vulture is looking to set up his own team of supervillains known as the Sinister Six, in which capacity he will once again be seen in the role of the leader and mentor for the villains.

It seems Keaton has regained his fondness for superhero films after he walked away from making a third Batman movie all those years ago. And needless to say, both DC and Marvel fans could not be happier with his choice. This info comes from @Borys_Kit on Twitter.