Michael Keaton is the best Batman . That is what the actor said recently while taking part in a Q&A video for Wired. Literally, all he said. While sharing his answers to the internet’s most searched questions, Keaton was faced with the biggest and most important question first: why Michael Keaton is the best Batman?
Hilariously not missing a beat, Keaton turned to the camera and said, “Oh, ‘cause I am.” It is certainly a statement that is hard to dispute, as, for many, Keaton’s turn as the Dark Knight is pretty hard to beat. Whether this is down to him being the first to portray the character on the big screen, the nostalgic air about his iteration of the character, or the way Tim Burton brought Gothic fantasy to the streets of Gotham City, it doesn’t really matter, because a lot of fans will most likely agree with Keaton’s curt comment.
However, his success in the role was not always guaranteed, and Burton took what was seen as a huge risk in casting the actor known for more comedic roles as his Batman. In fact, Keaton reflected on the hate he received before Batman was released during his appearance at Tim Burton’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. Keaton addressed the discourse over his original casting, saying:
“I’ll never understand [this] why anyone cared. The uproar… you would’ve thought we were being invaded. It was unbelievable. The press was going crazy. But [Burton] stood by me. The guts it took to stand by that decision will always be appreciated by me.”
Michael Keaton Defined the Role of Batman in a New Light
Prior to 1989’s feature film, the Caped Crusader’s on screen appearances had been confined to TV, with another Batman icon, Adam West, playing the role across 120 episodes between 1966 and 1968. West also starred in a TV movie that was released between the first two seasons of the show in 1966. However, West’s version was very much “of the time,” but as the 1980s drew to a close, the Batman that would appear in cinemas worldwide was a much darker, more serious version, in line with some of the character’s later comic book appearances.
While Keaton’s previous body of work actually made him more likely to take on an Adam West style Batman, under the direction of Burton the pair came together – with the help of a deliciously deranged Jack Nicholson in tow – to create what would become the template for every Batman movie to follow. Although things began to stray in the pun-filled and unnecessarily garish Batman & Robin, Christopher Nolan’s trilogy brought everything back on track and included arguably the greatest Batman movie of all time in The Dark Knight.
Now, fans have two Batmen coming into their lives, with Robert Pattinson’s grounded version of Bruce Wayne set to return in The Batman – Part II in 2026, and James Gunn set to cast a new actor in the role for his DCU continuity. How this new star will size up with Keaton’s original movie Batman is yet to be seen, but it looks like the actor is pretty confident that his Bruce Wayne will still be top bat irrespective of how many other actors take on the role in the future.
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