When originally cast in the role, fans of The Dark Knight were furious that Michael Keaton would be taking on the role of Batman for Tim Burton’s big screen adaptation. However, Keaton impressed both fans and critics and would go on to play the role again in Batman Returns.
While doing a promotional tour for his latest movie Birdman (a movie about an aging actor living in the shadow of a superhero role he once played), Keaton was asked if he’d like to play Batman again. His answer?
“If it was Tim Burton directing? In a heartbeat.”
“Tim gets the genre better than anyone else. Tim, in movies, really invented the whole dark-superhero thing,” he added. “He started everything, and some of the guys who have done these movies since then don’t say that, and they’re wrong.”
He also added his favourite part about Batman was not the Dark Knight himself, but his alter-ego. “Now I can say this, because for many reasons, I never allowed myself to say it at the time: It was never about Batman for me. It was always about Bruce Wayne,” Keaton told EW. “He’s funny! He’s screwed-up! The guy is the coolest motherf**er in the world, and he’s messed-up!”
Keaton was inititally supposed to return to the Batman role for Batman Forver, but fell out with producers over the new direction. “The simple answer was, [that approach] wasn’t any good,” the actor said. “I tried to make them understand. But when somebody says to you, ‘Does it have to be so dark?’… I thought, ‘Are we talking about the same character?’”
Originally published October 11, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
