For the longest time, we’ve known that Michael Keaton would appear in a supporting role in The Flash alongside Ezra Miller’s titular speedster, but everyone would be thrilled to know that he will be doing so once again as Batman.
And it gets even better — Ben Affleck will also be returning to reprise his role as a second Caped Crusader!
Whatever happened to permanent retirement? In an interersting twist of fate, Affleck has decided to have one more go as the Dark Knight in the upcoming film directed by Andy Muschietti. After his troubled history with the role, it appears the 48-year-old has been reinvigorated to don the cape and cowl once more and do justice to the Batman.
“[Affleck’s] Batman has a dichotomy that is very strong, which is his masculinity—because of the way he looks, and the imposing figure that he has, and his jawline —but he’s also very vulnerable,” Muschietti said in an interview with Vanity Fair. “He knows how to deliver from the inside out, that vulnerability. He just needs a story that allows him to bring that contrast, that balance.”
We’ve seen inklings of just how introspective Batfleck can get in 2016’s Batman v Superman and 2017’s Justice League. We imagine we’ll get to see even more of him go even deeper in The Flash. Muschietti believes Affleck’s Batman and Miller’s Flash both share an intrinsic connection in the death of their mothers, and that similarity will serve as an “emotional vessel” in the movie.
Of course, we’re not forgetting we’re getting a whopping four hours more of Batfleck in the upcoming Snyder Cut of Justice League on HBO Max later this year.
Vanity Fair also allays doubts as to whether Affleck’s return for one more film would impact the new role taken up by Robert Pattinson in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. The English actor will still carry the title of the character in potential future DCEU films.
And while the hype around Batfleck’s return is real, the same can be said for Keaton’s return as the World’s Greatest Detective, who entrenched himself in comic book movie history by starring in the iconic role in Tim Burton’s Batman in 1989. This will be the first time he’ll be appearing as Batman in 28 years, since Batman Returns in 1992.
What exactly Keaton’s Batman is all about in the upcoming film remains to be seen, though it is most likely to show just how exactly the larger DC multiverse works when various alternate realities collide (remember The CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths?).
After all, this movie is an adaptation of the 2011 Flashpoint comic, where Barry Allen travels to different parallel dimensions to meet different versions of the same character. Such as two Batmen.
Now if only Pattinson’s Batman (and even Christian Bale’s) could appear in some form…
Perhaps all will be revealed at DC FanDome this weekend, and when The Flash releases in theatres in 2 June 2022.
Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.
Natalie
