Michael Keaton on Why He Decided To Play Batman Again in THE FLASH and BATGIRL
I never thought I’d see Michael Keaton in the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman again, but here we are! It’s happening, and his involvement is the only reason that I have any interest in these upcoming DC films such as The Flash and Batgirl. In a recent interview with Variety, Keaton talked about playing Batman again and explained why, saying:
"It seemed like fun. I was curious what it would be like after this many years. Not so much me doing it – obviously, some of that – but I was just curious about it, weirdly, socially. This whole thing is gigantic. They have their entirely own world. So, I like to look at it as an outsider, thinking 'Holy moly!'"
This echoes comments that Keaton previously made, saying:
"When it came around again, first of all, I was getting curious about it. I thought, 'Boy, what would that be like?' And then, coincidentally, there were murmurs, and I got a call from Warner Bros. They wanted to talk to me about something and there was hints of Batman," Keaton said of his The Flash return while appearing on The Jess Cagle Show late last year. "It has to be good. There's no reason to do it if it's not good. It's not gonna really change anything. And I just jumped in and had fun. And why would you not? You know, I mean, director Andy Muschietti is fantastic, and he's really creative. I don't know. It's fun."
The Flash is being directed by Andy Muschietti (It), with a script from Christina Hodson (Birds of Prey, Batgirl). It stars Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash, Ben Affleck as Batman, Sasha Calle as Supergirl, Kiersey Clemons as Iris West, Ron Livingston as Henry Allen, Maribel Verdu as Nora Allen, Ian Loh as a young Barry Allen, as well as Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Rudy Mancuso.
Batgirl is being directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Falla, and it stars Leslie Grace, and she is joined by Brendan Fraser as the villain, JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, and Jacob Scipio taking on an unknown role.
The Flash is scheduled to be released in theaters on June 23, 2023. Batgirl is expected to hit HBO Max late in 2022.