Tim Burton Reflects on Making BATMAN Without Studio Interference and Says "No" to Directing Another Superhero Film

Director Tim Burton recently reflected on his experience making the classic 1989 Batman movie, and how making it back then was very different from how Hollywood Studios makes superhero movies today. He also addresses Superman Lives, and if he would make another superhero movie today.

The filmmaker explains that when he was making Batman, he didn’t really have any studio interference, and the whole thing was a unique experience for him.

While talking to Variety, Burton explained: "I was lucky because at that time, the word 'franchise' didn’t exist. So 'Batman' felt slightly experimental at the time. 

“It deviated from what the perception [of a superhero movie] might be. So you didn’t hear that kind of studio feedback, and being in England, it was even further removed."

"We really just got to focus on the film and not really think about those things that now they think about even before you do it. I never felt like I was misusing company funds with studios, if you know what I mean.

“But it also just felt kind of pure because I wasn’t really a proper filmmaker, so I just did things that I felt was me. It felt like that’s why they wanted me."

After Batman became a huge success for the studio, Burton was originally given even more freedom with 1992's Batman Returns... but then that freedom didn’t last for long.

Burton said: "I wasn’t really interested in doing a sequel, but I liked Penguin and Catwoman so I got reenergized by the whole thing.

“And that was when we started hearing the word franchise and where the studio started going, 'What’s the black stuff coming out of the Penguin’s mouth?' It was the first time the cold wind of that kind of thing came upon me."

Studio interference is also one of the main reasons why Superman Lives movie with Nicolas Cage' fell apart. The director said it's "quite traumatic" to work on a movie that doesn't happen, and added, "I just try to focus on things that I feel strongly about and get rid of all the noise surrounding them."

As far as if Burton will ever make a superhero movie again, chances are it’s not going to happen. When asked if he would take on another comic book project Burton said:

"At the moment, I would say no. Like I said, I come at things from different points of view, so I would never say never to anything. But, at the moment, it’s not something I’d be interested in."

Burton doesn’t need to make any superhero movies, and I’d like to see him go back to telling more original stories.