Here's your inside look at Michael Keaton returning as Batman for the DC Comics superhero movie The Flash.
The Flash Cast:
Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, Ron Livingston, Michael Keaton, Kiersey Clemons, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue and Sasha Calle
Stream The Flash now on digital!
The Flash Cast:
Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, Ron Livingston, Michael Keaton, Kiersey Clemons, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue and Sasha Calle
Stream The Flash now on digital!
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 ♪♪
00:12 For me, it was very exciting,
00:14 the idea of bringing back Michael Keaton as Batman.
00:18 You know, obviously because I saw Batman in the movies
00:20 when I was a teenager.
00:22 To be honest, the fact that we'd be able
00:24 to bring Michael Keaton back as the Tim Burton Batman
00:27 was one of the things that cemented our decision
00:33 to make "The Flash."
00:34 ♪♪
00:47 We get Michael Keaton Batman.
00:48 You know, when I read that, I was just knocked out.
00:51 As soon as I read that Michael Keaton was in,
00:53 you know, the whole idea of this multiverse,
00:54 I'm like, "Wow." It was just shocking.
00:56 That was the clincher.
00:57 When you return the page and you realize who it is,
00:59 you think, "Oh, that's great."
01:01 It's like bringing back a classic.
01:02 It's like bringing back the Beatles.
01:04 Many people probably think that they won't see that again
01:07 in their lifetimes, and they have to content themselves
01:10 with re-watching the old movies, you know,
01:12 "Batman" and "Batman Returns."
01:14 That's why it's so exciting, I think,
01:15 for people that were affected by the first Batman
01:18 to see that Batman is coming back again.
01:21 If Keaton's Batman, probably the one with the longest arc
01:24 and a more complex arc.
01:26 Michael Keaton's Batman adds heart.
01:30 He is a very human Batman,
01:34 and he is reluctant to come back.
01:37 The thing with Batman in general is that this man
01:40 that is immersed in this misery, in his childhood trauma,
01:43 and he doesn't seem to be able to overcome it,
01:46 is the only Batman apart from the Adam West version
01:50 that seems to have a sarcastic sense of humor about it.
01:54 I think it's very tied to a coping mechanism.
01:56 He has a very dark side to him, but there's a lightness to him,
01:59 and that's what I found remarkable of his performance.
02:03 What was kind of fun was that Michael Keaton's Bruce/Batman
02:06 had never been a mentor. He'd always been a lone wolf.
02:08 We'd never got to see him with a Robin
02:10 or with anyone younger like that,
02:12 and so to have him suddenly thrust
02:13 into that role of mentor was just kind of fun
02:16 and funny and challenging for him,
02:18 and I think it's great because Barry brings
02:21 to that relationship so much love,
02:22 so much trust from his own Bruce.
02:25 Having that kid suddenly show up in his life,
02:27 it changes Keaton's Bruce over the course of the movie,
02:30 and it lets the two Batmen kind of share one arc.
02:34 I really wanted to defy people's expectations
02:37 of where Bruce Wayne would be 30 years later,
02:40 and I also wanted to deepen the backstory of Bruce Wayne.
02:44 If Bruce Wayne, as the story tells,
02:46 has been retired for 25 years, what happened to him?
02:51 I always said something should have happened to Bruce Wayne
02:54 to want to stop being Batman, and my idea was
02:57 he did something that goes against his code.
02:59 He killed a criminal in front of his child,
03:01 unknowingly, but he still did it,
03:04 which is an exact mirroring situation
03:06 of what happened to him when his parents were killed
03:08 in front of the Monarch Theater,
03:10 and that created that monster that Batman is,
03:13 so he just couldn't cope with it,
03:15 and that's why he decided to shut off his other side,
03:19 Batman, and he hasn't been able to forgive himself,
03:22 and now the way we find him
03:24 is a bit of, like, the evolution of that journey.
03:27 You know, he's a tragic figure.
03:28 He's basically a character that is in search of redemption,
03:31 but eventually finds a way to do it by helping Barry.
03:36 Want some help?
03:37 ♪♪
03:47 We prepped a lot for when Michael would arrive
03:51 because he's such a huge, iconic star,
03:55 and his Batman is imprinted in every retina in the world.
04:00 One of the most exciting things to take on
04:03 was Michael Keaton's new Batsuit.
04:04 We all know very well, particularly in the costume world,
04:08 the original Batsuits that he wore in the 1989 movie
04:10 and in "Batman Returns," I think, '92,
04:12 so what we wanted to do is we wanted to be really true
04:14 to the technology involved in those costumes,
04:17 the look of those costumes,
04:18 and what would have happened in 30 years to those costumes.
04:21 What would they have become? How would they have developed?
04:25 One of the folklores about Michael Keaton's
04:27 original costumes were that they were really constrictive
04:29 and hard to move in, and then he developed,
04:31 as part of his character, what they called the Batman lean,
04:34 where, you know, he was unable to look up or look down,
04:37 look left, look right, so he used his entire body
04:39 to make those moves, very famously,
04:41 kind of leaning back to look up and looking down.
04:44 And so we took it on ourselves to try and create
04:47 a new rubber Batsuit that would be much more flexible,
04:50 much more comfortable, much more usable.
04:53 But when Michael put the cowl on,
04:54 the first time we explained to him, I said,
04:56 "Hopefully, Michael, we've put more movement into him,"
04:57 and he's going, "No, I can't have that.
05:00 There's no way we can have movement.
05:01 It's got to be that that's the only --
05:04 that's the really important thing."
05:06 "Okay, Corey, we will make sure it's nice and straight for you."
05:10 Trying to help, you know, best-laid plans and all that.
05:12 We got a report from Alex Byrne, our costume designer,
05:16 that he had gone very emotional when he first put on the suit
05:20 because it had been 30 years.
05:22 To see Michael in the suit, that was incredible.
05:24 Absolutely incredible.
05:26 It's a film memory I'll definitely take with me.
05:30 Michael is the ultimate pro.
05:33 He plays everything very small,
05:37 to the degree that you almost can't catch it.
05:41 But then it's projected onto the big screen,
05:45 and it is unbelievable the amount of control
05:50 he has over his face muscles,
05:53 his eyebrows, his eyes, his mouth.
05:57 Even when it's done at the smallest,
06:00 he is telling you exactly what needs to be told.
06:04 You want to get nuts?
06:08 Let's get nuts.
06:09 And it's something that I had never seen to that extent.
06:13 For me, it was magic.
06:14 And I think for Andy, too.
06:17 You're strapped to your parachute.
06:20 Working with Michael Keaton was insane.
06:23 He was so cool.
06:25 The dude is so fit.
06:27 I don't know where the fountain of youth is,
06:29 but he must be swimming in it.
06:30 Honestly, the guy is a ninja.
06:33 There was this day when we were filming in the kitchen,
06:35 and we were doing the rehearsals,
06:37 and Andy was just showing on an iPad
06:40 Michael the footage of the sequence that was happening.
06:43 And Michael just, like, jumped up, like, on the table
06:45 and was just, like, there, just like,
06:47 "Oh, yeah, yeah, cool, cool, cool.
06:49 Okay, yeah, yeah, got it, got it, got it."
06:51 And then I was looking at Michael Keaton on this table.
06:53 I was like, "Dude, what are you doing on the table?
06:56 Like, seriously."
06:57 I put my hand out to offer to help him down,
06:59 and he just went, "Oh, yeah, I'm cool."
07:00 He just--
07:02 Michael Keaton's Batman is iconic.
07:05 There are some very specific moments
07:07 that it's important the camera gives the audience
07:09 exactly what they want.
07:10 There are probably three points in that, dramatically.
07:14 First, when he's revealing his ears and his costume.
07:17 The second, obviously, is when we reveal
07:19 it's Michael as Batman for the first time,
07:21 which sends a chill down the back of my spine.
07:24 The last moment is his "Let's get nuts" line.
07:27 And it's just making sure that those moments are just right
07:29 because they give so much pleasure
07:31 to so many billions of people.
07:34 Michael's son and his grandson
07:36 were in Leavesden visiting one day,
07:39 and Michael told me, "When I did Tim Burton's Batman,
07:43 Sean--Sean is his son--
07:47 was four years old,
07:49 and now my grandson is four years old,
07:52 and he's seeing his grandfather as Batman."
07:56 And that was very emotional for him
07:57 and, of course, for us as well.
08:01 I think Keaton didn't know how he was gonna feel
08:04 about being this character again,
08:06 but to be honest, I think he's walking away from this movie
08:11 with a lot of love for Batman.
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