Robert Pattinson may be our incumbent Batman, but Warner Bros. reportedly has another Bruce Wayne in mind for yet another variation on the franchise? According to We Got This Covered, unnamed sources told the outlet that the studio wants to bring back Michael Keaton as Older Bruce Wayne for a live-action adaptation of the animated series Batman Beyond.
And honestly? We’re super into this idea.
Keaton, of course, iconically donned the bat-suit for Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992). This was the first time Batman had ever been seen on the big screen (well, sorta) and the two films managed to go dark and gritty while still preserving all of the fun and camp. They’re also arguably the harbinger of current superhero cinema in how they demonstrated that these serialized stories could be adapted for the big screen in a realistic, satisfying, and high-spectacle manner.
And it’s not like Keaton isn’t still fun to watch in superhero flicks, as Spider-Man: Homecoming and Birdman can attest. If anything, he’s gotten even better at playing:
- An unquestioned mentor.
- Menacing.
- MENACING.
And it doesn’t take much to imagine that the world of the Tim Burton Batman movies grew into the cyberpunk world of Batman Beyond, mainly because both of those worlds are all industrial aesthetic all the time, with charming interludes.
Honestly there’s probably nothing to this rumor aside from We Got This Covered pitching it out there and seeing if it sticks. But that doesn’t matter. We love thinking about it!
(Also that means Michelle Pfeiffer could cameo as an older Selina Kyle. See? This idea just keeps on giving!)
