A new still from the upcoming DC outing, The Flash, offers another look at Michael Keaton’s highly anticipated return as Batman. Released courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures, Keaton will make his triumphant return as the Tim Burton iteration of The Dark Knight, with his version of Bruce Wayne being sought out by Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen after he brings chaos to the multiverse when attempting to travel through time in order to save his mother’s life.
This latest image sees two versions of Barry Allen join Keaton’s Batman in the Batplane, with the actor once again sporting the cape, cowl, and bright yellow symbol that lit up the silver screen more than 30 years ago. While The Flash movie will center on the titular DC superhero, make no mistake, many will be flocking to theaters next month to see Micheal Keaton’s Batman return. You can check out the new image from The Flash below...
The Flash Teams Ezra Miller with Michael Keaton's Batman
The Flash is one of the most anticipated movies of the year, and after the box office disaster of Shazam: Fury of the Gods, the franchise is looking for Ezra Miller’s scarlet speedster to run up a huge box office this summer. However, there is one thing in the multiverse movie that has people hyped up more than anything else, and that is the return of Michael Keaton as Batman.
The Flash will see Barry Allen delving into the DC multiverse and coming face to face with Keaton’s version of Batman, as well as many other DC characters including Super Girl, General Zod and Ben Affleck’s Batman. However, there is nothing like a nostalgic legacy return to really get fans in a frenzy and the return of Michael Keaton to the DC franchise is one of the biggest in recent years. Having seen his planned appearance in the canceled Batgirl movie, The Flash will now be his first (but potentially not the last) time we see him donning the cape and cowl for the first time in three decades.
The real question that fans want answering is how much of a role Keaton will have in the franchise going forward. He is clearly a central part of The Flash, and while there is still no confirmation whether his rumored appearance in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will actually go ahead, James Gunn has suggested there could still be a place for Burton’s Batman to appear as part of an Elsewhere project at some point.
Will Michael Keaton Continue as Batman in Future Projects?
Although there are little certainties about anything that set up prior to the appointment of James Gunn and Peter Safran as the joint CEOs of DC Studios, the pair did previously tease that although his involvement was not going quite as planned, Keaton could be involved in the franchise’s future. They said earlier this year:
SAFRAN - "There's always possibilities. We are a multiverse still."
GUNN - "But the main thing that we're focusing on right now is creating the universe that people put their feet into. And then out of that, if we want to have Multiverse Tales, which I actually know one of the things we're working on does have a Multiverse Tale, is we'll have that in there."
Of course, the chances of Keaton returning again will be massively dictated by the performance of The Flash this summer. From the initial reactions and test screenings, it seems that the film has been hailed as one of the best comic book movies ever. There were some phenomenal reactions to the film when it was screened at CinemaCon at the end of April, and it is almost certain that the film is going to end up being one of the most talked about in a busy summer of blockbuster movies.