DC Comics Confirms Christopher Reeve's SUPERMAN And Michael Keaton's BATMAN Are Part Of The Same Universe

DC Comics Confirms Christopher Reeve's SUPERMAN And Michael Keaton's BATMAN Are Part Of The Same Universe

Superman: The Movie and 1989's Batman remain beloved classics (as do most of their sequels), but it's now been confirmed that these versions of the iconic characters actually inhabit the same world...

By JoshWilding - Dec 13, 2022 07:12 AM EST
Filed Under: Batman (1989)
Source: Bleeding Cool

Superman: The Movie was released in 1978, with Tim Burton's Batman following in 1989. Both movies would receive sequels (of varying quality), but are rightly considered classics by fans. 

They're also incredibly important early additions to the genre, with both movies, and Batman Returns, still influencing much of what we see on the big screen. While both worlds have recently been revisited in comic book sequels, Michael Keaton is set to reprise the role of Bruce Wayne in The Flash movie next year. 

That was supposed to culminate with the actor starring in a Batman Beyond project, and you may be even more disappointed that didn't happen based on this news. 

A new DC Comics one-shot, Dark Crisis: Big Bang, reveals that the comic book Barry Allen has taken notes on multiple Earths across the Multiverse, including Earth-789. In that reality, "Superman and Supergirl are Earth's only powered heroes; Batman's parents killed by the Joker. (Superman '78, Batman '89)."

This confirms that Christopher Reeve's Superman, Keaton's Batman, and Helen Slater's Supergirl share a reality - a game-changing revelation. 

While we don't necessarily anticipate this being explored on screen, it's an exciting detail to drop and one we can imagine being addressed on the page at some point. For many, seeing these heroes cross paths in any way would be an absolute dream come true. 

Inevitably, some fans have pointed out that this doesn't make a whole lot of sense as it contradicts the events of The CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths. DC Comics clearly isn't taking that crossover into account, though, and we do wonder whether The Flash movie will see Keaton's Caped Crusader mention a past meeting with the Man of Steel of his world. 

What do you guys think about this revelation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section. 

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slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 12/13/2022, 7:21 AM
Thank dog we’ve finally got the answer to that question.
Does that make Brandon Roth’s Superdude in the same universe as Bales Batman? Or is he in one of the more campy Batman universes with Kilmer or Clooney? These are the hard hitting question us the fans should be asking!
CLTMAN29
CLTMAN29 - 12/13/2022, 7:52 AM
@slickrickdesigns - No. Because Superman Returns is a direct sequel to Superman 2 - ignoring 3 and 4. So Routh is Reeve's Superman. That was publicised and confirmed on it's release.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 12/13/2022, 7:55 AM
@CLTMAN29 - Yet in the Kingdom Come-inspired Earth 96 from CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths, there are easter eggs for Superman IV, so by that point Superman: The Movie, Superman II, Superman Returns, Superman III, Supergirl and Superman IV have all happened as well as an approximation of some of the events of Kingdom Come.

At least in that universe.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 12/13/2022, 8:03 AM
@slickrickdesigns - Brandon and Chris played the same Superman.
CLTMAN29
CLTMAN29 - 12/13/2022, 8:26 AM
@ObserverIO - Yes, but trying to apply any kind of internal consistency and login to any of DC's output now is a futile task. Eg, we saw the Burton Batverse destroyed in the Infinite Earths crossover, and yet the Flash is heading there. There is no thought applied when you can slap a 'multiverse' label on it. It's a free pass for doing what you want sadly.
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 12/13/2022, 8:32 AM
@CLTMAN29 - thanks for clarifying 😭
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 12/13/2022, 8:55 AM
@CLTMAN29 - There are many different versions of Batman '89.

There's this new universe (789), the Burton/Schumacherverse, the Burton/Snyderverse, The Lego Batman movie, the Birds of Prey TV series even the DCAU has elements of the Burtonverse.

So the universe that was destroyed (Earth 89) was a different universe to whatever version Keaton's Batman comes from in The Flash.

It would be nice if they could keep things perfectly consistent, but most of the time they can't even keep the continuity of one universe consistent (and I'm not just talking about DC here), so catch-all concepts like Multiverse, Megaverse, Metaverse, Hypertime, Sliding Timescale, etc. does give them a free pass for doing whatever they want, but it also gives those of us who care about continuity a good excuse to not pull our hair out over it.

It's better than nothing making sense and for all of us to have realise that what we care about so much is just fiction and our whole lives have been a lie.

Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna repress that last sentence so I can continue living in denial.
Origame
Origame - 12/13/2022, 10:33 AM
@CLTMAN29 - ...the multiverse was brought back by the end of the special.
Forthas
Forthas - 12/13/2022, 7:22 AM
I will never understand the love affair with Christopher Reeve's Superman and Michael Keaton's Batman. I get that they were the first iterations of the characters on film, but people need to acknowledge better versions of both franchises exist. It should not be Christopher Reeve's Superman and Michael Keaton's Batman that are in the same universe..it should be Christian Bale's Batman and Henry Cavill's Superman. Batman 89 and Superman 78 visually do not even look like they are in the same universe. This is so reactionary to Marvel's multiverse approach.
Taonrey
Taonrey - 12/13/2022, 7:34 AM
@Forthas - “but people need to acknowledge better versions exist”
yeah.. no they don’t, just because you think so doesn’t mean everyone else has to. I know this concept is foreign to some people but who’s you think is the best Batman,Superman and Spider-Man is entirely subjective. If you prefer bale and Cavill that’s fine doesn’t mean we have to agree with you. There isn’t a wrong answer here lol
Deklipz
Deklipz - 12/13/2022, 7:38 AM
@Taonrey - Superman 78 is why I stopped liking superheroes and comics as a whole when I was a kid. It’s so goddamned stupid it’s embarrassing listen to people talk it up like it’s some masterpiece of cinema. Yeah the FX were ’ok’ but certainly not better than what had come before. Cleaner, but not better.
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