Michael Keaton will don his cape and cowl again for not only The Flash, but also HBO’s Batgirl.
The film’s directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah have confirmed the 70-year-old actor’s involvement with two words:
F*** yes! The O.G. Batman is in the movie.
(Of course, this confirmation comes after weeks of on-set photos of Keaton as Bruce Wayne and as Batman, so this admission is a bit of a redundancy, albeit an exciting one).
Michael Keaton Returns for Batgirl
Lead actress, Leslie Grace, however, confesses the level of excitement in Keaton’s involvement leaned more so towards Arbi and Fallah:
It was wild for [everyone.] Our directors were like two little kids. They’re legit Batman nerds openly. He’s Batman, man! I couldn’t even believe that I was sharing space with Batman. I want to say more, but I can’t. It was insane, surreal, incredible. It was the stuff of dreams really.
Keaton, known for comedic films at the time, was met with ridicule and rejection when his casting as Bruce Wayne was announced in 1987. However, it was his performance in Beetlejuice for director Tim Burton that demonstrated Michael’s potential to convey the duality of playboy and vigilante. The end result won fans over as much as Jack Nicholson’s Joker.
The 1989 Batman film by Tim Burton went on to earn a domestic box office total of $251.2 million and an international amount of $160.15 million, respectively. He returned for Burton’s next chapter, Batman Returns, starring alongside Danny DeVito’s Penguin and Michelle Pfieffer’s Catwoman. This far-darker sequel earned $162 million at the North American box office and an international return of $266.9 million.
Unfortunately, Keaton walked away from the cape and cowl due to creative differences with director Joel Schumacher for Batman Forever. In recent years, Keaton has appeared in the MCU as Adrian Toomes, AKA The Vulture, in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Morbius.
Batgirl follows the arrival of Barbara Gordon (Grace) to the Bat-Family. JK Simmons reprises his Justice League role as Commissioner James Gordon, and Brendan Fraser will portray Garfield Lynns, AKA Firefly.
Grace went further to declare:
That’s the stuff you can only dream of. So anytime I was on set with any of them, I’m always [soaking up. Anytime] I’m on set period, even if I am the only person on camera, I’m trying to soak up from the crew from. Any amount of experience [is helpful.
Our crew is incredible as well, but those guys, they were just so generous with their knowledge. And there were so many fun conversations with Brendan and with J.K. It was incredible.
The release date of Batgirl has yet to be confirmed.
Official Source – Batgirl Directors Confirm Michael Keaton Batman Role In HBO Max Film (comicbook.com)
