At the current moment, this story is still developing, so there’s very little evidence to base our Batman theories on. However, here is what we know so far…
Michael Keaton is in final negotiations to return as Batman/Bruce Wayne. After almost 30 long years, he’s back!
This would be one of the first historical occurrences where an actor from a previous generation and previous franchise jumped back in a role, to crossover into a new franchise that had nothing to do with their own.
According to The Wrap as well as THR, the actor will appear in The Flash movie that will star Ezra Miller. Borys Kit from THR states that Michael Keaton is planning to be onboard for multiple movies.
All this is a lot to digest and the possibilities are ridiculously endless with this breaking news.
Umberto Gonzales at The Wrap explains the film will tell the story of Barry Allen attempting to go back in time to save his mother from certain death, resulting in Allen crossing over into a different universe protected by Keaton’s Dark Knight. They also explain it will have no connection to Matt Reeves’s film The Batman with Robert Pattinson.
This would set up an amazing connection for both characters having both lost their mothers. Let’s just hope no one connects over the name “Martha.”
Borys Kit also says he will serve as a Nick Fury mentor in the upcoming slate of projects.
But here is where it gets interesting… he will also “appear in multiple movies. BATGIRL is one of the possible projects.”
Could one of these projects include Batman Beyond or is Batgirl going to take inspiration from Batman Beyond with a female twist?
What is Batman Beyond?
For those who have been under a rock, Batman Beyond jumped ahead 20 years in a futuristic Gotham where Bruce Wayne is a crotchety old man in his 70s screaming at criminals to “get off his lawn.”
He also has a dog now named Ace that lives with him in Wayne Manor.
The story brought in Terry McGinnis–a young man who Bruce decides to train as the new “Bat.” It also had one of the most terrifying Joker flashbacks involving Robin ever seen on any television show for children.
That can be seen below:
As of right now, there’s vague reporting on how much of a role Keaton will play moving forward. But what can be presumed is the role will not be small and it might set up the next DCEU Batman after Ben Affleck.
The question remains though: Will it be Terry McGinnis or Barbara Gordon?
Either way, we are ready!