BATMAN Star Michael Keaton Reflects On Tim Burton's "Ballsy" Decision To Cast Him As DC's Dark Knight

Batman star Michael Keaton has looked back at filmmaker Tim Burton's decision to cast him in the 1989 classic and admits he was baffled by the response to the news he'd suit up as DC's Caped Crusader.

By JoshWilding - Mar 29, 2024 07:03 AM EST

Filed Under: Batman (1989)

When the news broke in the late 1980s that Michael Keaton had been cast as Bruce Wayne in Batman, the news didn't receive the warmest of responses.

Sure, there was no social media to complain on, but the buzz surrounding the Beetlejuice star playing the Dark Knight wasn't good. Keaton was primarily known for his comedy work and, in the eyes of comic book readers, wasn't the right fit for the brooding Batman.

Talking to GQ, the actor praised filmmaker Tim Burton's "ballsy" movie to cast him in the 1989 classic.

"When they said, 'We're thinking of doing Batman,' I said, 'Wait, you're going to make a movie of Batman?'" Keaton recalls. "Yeah, there was Superman, but that's Superman, which Dick Donner did, which was really, really good. Very charming, actually. And Chris Reeve was great, and it had humor, and it was like, you know..."

"So, the fact that Tim said, 'That guy. I want that guy.' Like, why people even cared one way or another that much is still baffling. But, still, that was a ballsy move on his part," he continues. "And we also had a nice working relationship, you know, from Beetlejuice, so I think he felt he and I would get along through this. You know, we work well together."

Keaton was clearly aware of the backlash but it didn't faze him and between Batman and 1991's Batman Returns, he remains one of the most popular live-action versions of this iconic DC Comics character.

Elsewhere in the interview, the Batman star remembers Joker actor Jack Nicholson's shock that he'd embarked on a strict exercise regime to physically transform into the Caped Crusader. Ultimately, Keaton realised if he slimmed down, then he'd have more "room to breathe" in the Batsuit.

However, increasing his strength still had its benefits as the costume was surprisingly extremely heavy (the actor famously couldn't turn his head while wearing the Batsuit, a problem which wasn't solved until 2008's The Dark Knight).

Keaton reprised the role of Batman in The Flash last year and received widespread acclaim for his work in the movie. Warner Bros. had planned to bring him back for a cameo role in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and a supporting part in Batgirl. The latter was scrapped, his appearance in the former was left on the cutting room floor, and plans for a Batman Beyond movie came to nought following DC Studios' formation.

Check out the full interview with Keaton below.

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41 Comments

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TheVisionary25 - 3/29/2024, 7:20 AM

Oh , how the times have not changed lol…

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Anyway always thought Keaton did well in the role even if his somewhat more reclusive Bruce Wayne wasn’t my favorite…

However , his Batman though up until Pattinson recently was my favorite live action take on the character (minus the killing).

Izaizaiza - 3/29/2024, 7:55 AM

The Batman comics had experienced such a Renaissance at the time, and us comic fans were very excited about this film, hoping it would capture the grit from the comics. When it failed to do so, there was pretty much universal disappointment in the comic shop. Took me years to learn to appreciate the film. Kids and non-fans loved it immediately.

ObserverIO - 3/29/2024, 3:51 PM

@Izaizaiza - There was a miniscule disappointment, like there was with Nolan's take and with Snyder and Reeves take. Because nothing comes close to the grit from the comics at that time. Nothing is quite like Frank Miller's Batman. There was a edge to the comics at that time. They felt dangerous.

But those slight misgivings aside, I remember how much everyone loved it because it finally showed a dark gothic Batman. And there was some actual grit in there too, the opening scene feels Frank Miller-esque, the gangsters were more 1940s WB pictures than 1980s grit, but it was still way more hardcore than anything Adam West's Batman would have.

Same could be said for Nolan. Fans were very appreciative that it was even closer to the gritty realism of the comics, but it lacked the darkness of the Burton films and it was still very clean and had cartoony gangsters.

Izaizaiza - 3/30/2024, 8:10 AM

@ObserverIO - My memories are certainly anecdotal, but the disappointment was pretty universal in my social group. I remember my non comic book fan friends arguing that it was pretty fun, but the comic book crew wasn't having it. To be fair, we're probably a pretty obnoxious group of college age geeks. 🤓

ObserverIO - 3/30/2024, 12:17 PM

@Izaizaiza - Which is pretty much what we were all like back then and most of us still are to this day, tbh, lol. There's no pleasing the true die-hard fans. We will always complain about something lol.

Izaizaiza - 3/30/2024, 1:07 PM

@ObserverIO - it’s true. Any movie with our favorite characters must not only be perfect, it must be our version of perfect.

HermanM - 3/29/2024, 8:25 AM

89 is still the best live action Batman to date, it was a shame his return was so wasted and in the wrong movie in the Ezra Miller film.

99OPTIMISTPRIME - 3/29/2024, 9:14 AM

"Like, why people even cared one way or another that much is still baffling." Obviously Batman's really popular, but the negative overreaction to both the Keaton and Affleck castings, was so weird.

ObserverIO - 3/29/2024, 3:58 PM

@99OPTIMISTPRIME - This is the sort of thing we will lose when the character becomes public domain. When there is just one Batman it becomes very important to the fans who plays him and they get very passionate and opinionated.

Ironically the fans have more of a sense of ownership over a character when it's IP rather than when it's public domain.

But nobody cared when RDJ was cast as Sherlock Holmes or when Ian McKellen was cast a couple of years later, because none of them were THE Sherlock Holmes, just A Sherlock Holmes. Same with Dracula. As popular a character as Dracula has been over the last century or so, the internet did not break when Nic Cage was cast as Dracula in Renfield in the same way that it broke when he was cast as Superman in Superman Lives.

One day very soon the fans will no longer be that passionate when somebody new is cast as Batman or Superman.

mountainman - 3/29/2024, 9:42 AM

I was too young to catch wind of the Keaton casting controversy at that time, but it is interesting to learn about. Apparently a lot of people were upset about Mr Mom being cast as Batman.

Both Burton Batman movies were so iconic. If nothing else, they lead to the amazing animated series and the eventual build out of the Timmverse!

CaptainDC - 3/29/2024, 10:08 AM

Whether Keaton is the best Batman of all time will always be up-for-debate. In the end, it's tough to compare him to all of the Batman's that came after him, especially with the upgrade in technology and change in cinema.

Nonetheless, Keaton has a special place as Batman and will always hold a spot in the mount rushmore of Batman.

Forthas - 3/29/2024, 11:24 AM

I love Keaton as Batman and he certainly exceeded my expectations. But the idea that people were wrong about him is not totally true. Is he a good Batman, I would probably rank him third among the live action versions. Was he the best they could have cast? Even knowing what I know now, I still would not have cast him. I might have gone with a no name that had proven himself. While people pretend they loved Burton's take, the simple truth is that the first film - while popular because it was Batman - was still not universally loved in terms of critic ratings and the follow up film did worse at the box offcie than the first.

Nomis929 - 3/29/2024, 12:11 PM

@Forthas - "....While people pretend they loved Burton's take, the simple truth is that the first film - while popular because it was Batman - was still not universally loved in terms of critic ratings and the follow up film did worse at the box offcie than the first."

This is VERY TRUE!

The first movie only gained critically "praised" over time and 'Batman Returns'was bacially panned by critics and only made almost half of what the first one did and due to the portrayal of Penguin (too demonic loooking) and Catwoman (too Sexual) many parents group protested the movies and WB lost a lot of revenue in product placements.

People forget the reason TIm Burton wasn't asked to do the third is becasue of the poor reception of 'Batman Returns' and the Joel Schumacher was brought in to "ave" the series, which he did, at least finacally, with 'Batman Forever".

ModHaterSLADE - 3/29/2024, 12:28 PM

Probably my favorite take on Batman and Bruce Wayne. His Bruce Wayne came off as awkward at times but still had plenty of charisma.

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BATMAN Star Michael Keaton Reflects On Tim Burton's "Ballsy" Decision To Cast Him As DC's Dark Knight

Batman star Michael Keaton has looked back at filmmaker Tim Burton's decision to cast him in the 1989 classic and admits he was baffled by the response to the news he'd suit up as DC's Caped Crusader.

REACHER Star Alan Ritchson Confirms Interest In Playing THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD's Batman

POLL: From BATMAN '89 To The Nolanverse And DCEU - Which Of The Caped Crusader's Movies Do You Think Is Best?