BATMAN Movie Starring Michael Keaton Was Reportedly In The Works Prior To DCU Shakeup

BATMAN Movie Starring Michael Keaton Was Reportedly In The Works Prior To DCU Shakeup

A new report indicates that, prior to James Gunn and Peter Safran coming aboard as DC Studios co-heads, a solo Batman movie written by Christina Hodson was in the early stages of development...

By MarkCassidy - Dec 08, 2022 09:12 PM EST
Filed Under: Batman

It's now become clear that James Gunn and Peter Safran intend to forge ahead with their plans to "reset" the DCU, but it sounds like there may have been some projects in the early stages of development we didn't know about that have also been nixed along with the likes of Wonder Woman 3 and Black Adam 2.

Batman '89 and Batman Returns star Michael Keaton is (was?) set to return as an older take on the Dark Knight for several upcoming projects, but with Batgirl cancelled and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in a state of flux, he may only end up appearing up in The Flash - and if recent rumors are to believed, that might not even be a sure thing.

Now, we're hearing that the Oscar-nominated actor was set to star in a solo Batman movie before the recent changing of the guard.

According to Jeff Sneider on the latest episode of the Hot Mic podcast, Birds of Prey, The Flash and Batgirl writer Christina Hodson was working on (or had possibly completed) a script for a new Batman film featuring Keaton as the Caped Crusader. Whether Gunn and Safran scrapped the project when they took over or David Zaslav made the decision beforehand is unclear, but either way, it's unlikely to see the light of day.

This news is sure to disappoint fans of Tim Burton's films who were looking forward to seeing Keaton - who many still consider to be the best live-action Batman - back in the cape and cowl. Is there a chance this now defunct project could have been based on Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns? Or maybe even a Batman Beyond movie? We may never know for sure.

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MCUKnight11
MCUKnight11 - 12/8/2022, 9:34 PM
Live action Batman beyond might have actually happened...
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 12/8/2022, 9:36 PM
Would've been perfect for setting up Batman Beyond.
MCUKnight11
MCUKnight11 - 12/8/2022, 9:36 PM
Maybe the celebration for Gunn's DCU was premature...
DalekCraigWasson
DalekCraigWasson - 12/8/2022, 10:05 PM
@MCUKnight11 - Maybe I'm wrong but, uh, I don't want an elderly Michael Keaton as Batman flick? Lol. TDKR has been strip mined in Batman culture so much that it's lost much of its power and people seem to be jumping on the Batman Beyond bandwagon, when literally everything we've heard is about Michael Keaton Bruce Wayne being a current and active superhero.
TheUnworthyThor
TheUnworthyThor - 12/8/2022, 9:37 PM
comicfan100
comicfan100 - 12/8/2022, 9:38 PM
How can we ever get a Bat family movie when the franchises don't last long enough to build to that?
Steel86
Steel86 - 12/9/2022, 12:59 AM
@comicfan100 - Yep and this is why I was super excited about a Batflick Batman franchise and would have loved a recast if they didn't want to go with Ben. An older all ready established Bats could have had the bat family included without an orgin story for each character.
blitzkreg
blitzkreg - 12/8/2022, 9:41 PM
HELL NO !!! I HATED HIM AS BATMAN ! STILL DO !!! WE ALL KNOW JACK NICHOLSON WAS THE STAR OF THE 89 MOVIE ! BESIDES...HE IS OLD AS HELL ! NO THANK YOU !!!
MahN166A
MahN166A - 12/8/2022, 10:38 PM
@blitzkreg -

bobevanz
bobevanz - 12/9/2022, 4:31 AM
@blitzkreg - surely this is a joke
MaxPaint
MaxPaint - 12/9/2022, 6:57 AM
@blitzkreg - CAPSS ALL CAPS UUUUUGHHH SO MUCH ANGERRRRRRRR
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 12/8/2022, 9:42 PM

Bat Terry.
EZBeast
EZBeast - 12/8/2022, 9:44 PM
@Reeds2Much - I hate how much I enjoyed that meme…
Godzilla2000Zer
Godzilla2000Zer - 12/8/2022, 9:43 PM
Well that's totally came out of nowhere.
FilmGuy7878
FilmGuy7878 - 12/8/2022, 9:43 PM
I'd honestly watch the hell out of a Logan-style Batman film set in the Burtonverse. Let Tim come back for one last ride, give us Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face, bring back Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, maybe even give us villains that we've never seen before that lean towards Burton's experties (Clayface, Man-Bat, Mad Hatter, Victor Zzaz) give us those classic Burton-isms that made the first two films so unique.







And since Wednesday is out, I would love to see Jenna Ortega as a version of Carrie Kelly. Just something to consider.
DudeGuy
DudeGuy - 12/8/2022, 9:55 PM
@FilmGuy7878 - give me Brad Dourif as The Scarecrow
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 12/8/2022, 10:01 PM
@FilmGuy7878 - I would love to see Ventriloquist and Scarface in a movie they don't even need to be main villains. But I don't think that will ever happen.
DudeGuy
DudeGuy - 12/8/2022, 10:03 PM
@CorndogBurglar - my pipe dream after The Joker movie was a Ventriloquist solo movie. Would love to see that character pop up in a movie. Like you said doesn’t even need to be the main baddie.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 12/8/2022, 10:05 PM
@DudeGuy - It could be a lot of fun. And they could actually take that character down the more silly route or they could even make it more tragic and lean heavy into the multiple personalities side. Make Ventriloquist look like a seriously twisted dude.

solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 12/9/2022, 5:46 AM
@CorndogBurglar - I believe Scarface could work on Matt Reeves's. might bee creepy tone with some of GodFather style
Repian
Repian - 12/9/2022, 6:50 AM
@FilmGuy7878 - Michael Wincott would be my Victor ZsasZ.
BlackIceJoe
BlackIceJoe - 12/8/2022, 9:43 PM
Batman Beyond could have been really cool and even though it sounds like it won't happen, there is so much potential that I can't imagine that there won't one day be a Batman Beyond film.
tmp3
tmp3 - 12/8/2022, 9:51 PM
deadline said james mangold was interested in the gunn/safran dcu. if that's true, i guess he could conclude his trilogy of swan songs for actors in their iconic roles. would make more sense than hodson.
tmp3
tmp3 - 12/8/2022, 9:52 PM
villeneuve/chalamet the golden ticket for this but that was never gonna happen lol
Vigor
Vigor - 12/8/2022, 10:22 PM
@tmp3 - where is your gif avatar from
tmp3
tmp3 - 12/9/2022, 9:06 AM
@Vigor - faye wong in the chungking express
Vigor
Vigor - 12/9/2022, 10:36 AM
@tmp3 - just watched the California dreamin' video. Nice. Haven't seen this movie before I don't think
tmp3
tmp3 - 12/9/2022, 2:30 PM
@Vigor - it's prolly my all-time favorite, really great stuff
MrDandy
MrDandy - 12/8/2022, 9:51 PM
If it was Burton getting to come back and complete his trilogy then I am all for it. Anything else…hard pass.

Unless you have Keaton as a supporting character in a Batman Beyond movie.
tmp3
tmp3 - 12/8/2022, 9:54 PM
also since it seems like ww3 is gonna be a creative retooling and not a reboot (as of now... dc always in flux lol) they should get gina prince-bythewood to steer the ship. and an acting coach for gadot
Slotherin
Slotherin - 12/8/2022, 10:34 PM
@tmp3 - well, also people like to jump the gun on any little rumor
BlackIceJoe
BlackIceJoe - 12/8/2022, 9:55 PM
In other Batman news Kevin will be back for his final performance being the voice of Batman.

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