Michael Keaton Is Jealous of Christian Bale’s Batman? The Flash Star Wanted Tim Burton to Direct like Christopher Nolan
The face behind DC’s one of the most loved superheroes, Michael Keaton needs no introduction in the world of entertainment. The American actor was last seen in Ezra Miller led The Flash. Long before when the billion-dollar superhero franchise was not in hot waters, Michael Keaton enamored the franchise with his great acting prowess and crazy fan following.
Michael Keaton has been the official face of the caped crusader under the direction of reputed filmmaker Tim Burton. The actor has been a fan of Christopher Nolan. During an interview, the Academy Award-nominated actor mentioned why he would want Tim Burton to go the Christopher Nolan way with respect to direction.
Michael Keaton Wanted To Do The Batman Forever Project In Christopher Nolan’s Style
During an interview with the WTF Podcast in 2013 Michael Keaton spoke about one of the most iconic characters played by him, and Christopher Nolan’s filmmaking style. He said-
“The guy who’s doing them now, Chris Nolan, he’s so talented, it’s crazy. [Christian Bale] is so talented. It’s so good. But I say that like I’ve seen them, and I actually haven’t. I didn’t even see much of the second one that I did.”
Michael Keaton wanted Tim Burton to direct Batman Forever in Christopher Nolan’s style. He said-
“You look at where he went, which is exactly what I wanted to do when I was having meetings about the third one. I said you want to see how this guy started. We’ve got a chance here to fix whatever we kind of maybe went off. This could be brilliant.”
After Tim Burton dissociated himself from the Batman franchise, the responsibility was handed over to the American director, producer, and screenwriter Joel Schumacher. This was one of the most important reasons why Michael Keaton did not go ahead with Batman Forever. He further stated-
“[He] didn’t want to do it, so I didn’t want to do it. I could see that was going south.”
Michael Keaton wore the Batman suit for the Argentine filmmaker Andrés Muschietti in The Flash. As the movie fell flat and failed to create an impact at the box office, Michael Keaton’s cameo was received with love and appreciation by the audience.
Michael Keaton Talks About His Batman Voice
During an interview with the Empire magazine in 2023 Michael Keaton spoke about his Batman voice and mentioned how the multiple personalities of the DC superhero simply justified it. He said-
“He’s got two personalities. The guy is not psychotic but not far from it. Controlled psychosis. In order for me to justify all this, I can’t be changing the oil on the Batmobile and then saying, ‘Well, I have to kill some people.’ So he probably ends up going into some deep, deep trance, which is a scene that I don’t think ever made it in.”
While talking about justifying the particular voice, he mentioned-
“How do you justify the voice? It’s cheesy but I figured once he’s in the trance, he doesn’t think like he does like Bruce Wayne, doesn’t act like he does. So the voice came out of that, it was a really practical thing.”
The terrific collaboration of Tim Burton and Michael Keaton gave one of the best projects from the House of DC. His performance was so unique that it not only went on to strike a chord with the audience but also helped him solidify his acting career in Hollywood.
Source: WTF Podcast/ Empire
