Michael Keaton Says He Needed the Storyline of THE FLASH Explained to Him Several Times Before Understanding

Fans are excited to see Michael Keaton back in the bat suit after having played the caped crusader decades ago. Keaton was a fan-favorite Batman, and it will be awesome to see him return to the role in the upcoming DC movie The Flash, starring Ezra Miller.

While Keaton is familiar with playing Bruce Wayne, and has even ventured into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming as well as the upcoming film Morbius, the task of returning to the DCEU in this particular project has been a more difficult than Keaton bargained for.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Keaton said it took him some time to wrap his head around the parallel-universe concept, saying:

“I had to read it more than three times to go, ‘Wait, how does this work?’ They had to explain that to me several times. By the way, I’m not being arrogant, I hope, about this. I don’t say it like, ‘I’m too groovy.’ I’m stupid. There’s a lot of things I don’t know about. And so, I don’t know, I just kind of figured it out, but this was different. What’s really interesting is how much more I got [Batman] when I went back and did him. I get this on a whole other level now. I totally respect it. I respect what people are trying to make. I never looked at it like, ‘Oh, this is just a silly thing.’ It was not a silly thing when I did Batman. But it has become a giant thing, culturally. It’s iconic. So I have even more respect for it because what do I know? This is a big deal in the world to people. You’ve got to honor that and be respectful of that. Even I go, ‘Jesus, this is huge.’ “

He admitted that he didn’t have any idea about the MCU ramifications when he made Spider-Man and Morbius either. He talked about the filmmakers, who would be referencing recent Marvel plot points, saying:

“I’m nodding like I know what the fuck they’re talking about. I go, ‘Uh-huh.’ And I’m thinking, ‘You may as well be explaining quantum physics right now to me. All I know is I just know my guy. And I know the basics.’ So finally, they were looking at me, and they just started laughing. They said, ‘You don’t know what we’re talking about, do you?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t, no idea what you’re talking about.’ “

Good thing he wasn’t in Ant-Man, or he actually would have been hearing about quantum physics! But who cares if he knows the whole comic universes. He knows his characters, and he pulls it off every time! I can’t wait to see Keaton back in the DCEU.

Both Morbius and The Flash are set to hit theaters in 2022.