Credit: DCNow that The Flash has been released digitally, there have been more behind-the-scenes details being released by DC and director Andy Muschietti. During a new featurette, Muschietti revealed the horrible reason Michael Keaton’s Batman had been retired all these years.
Related: Long-Lost ‘Batman’ Movie Could Finally Be Released
Every creator has always approached Batman in unique ways, especially regarding how they view Bruce Wayne and his inner turmoil with losing his parents, which leads to him becoming Batman in the first place. Some take a more psychological route, which is what Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher did in his long-lost director’s cut.
Others showcase a Bruce Wayne that is far more hellbent on vengeance and retribution, like Christopher Nolan’s version, portrayed by Christian Bale. Bale’s Bruce Wayne was far more obsessed with protecting the weak instead of allowing his turmoil to take control of him negatively. There can also be a marriage of the psychological and hardened, like Matt Reeves’ portrayal played by Robert Pattinson.
Despite all the many versions of the Dark Knight, the hero always has one rule that he must never break—never to kill. Some versions of Batman have killed criminals, like Frank Miller’s version in The Dark Knight Returns. Still, most iterations have a hard-set rule that bloodshed is never the answer.
Though Michael Keaton returned as Bruce Wayne in The Flash, the reason behind him not being suited up for years has been revealed by director Andy Muschietti.
Michael Keaton’s Batman Was Retired From Breaking the One Rule
During the above featurette, many creators that worked on The Flash revealed that it was such a huge deal that Michael Keaton would be returning. Andy Muschietti stated it was like “Bringing back The Beatles.” Though Keaton was back, there had to be a more significant reason the character would return in his story.
Muschietti speaks at length about how he was able to explore the deeper backstory of Keaton’s Batman and what caused him to be retired for 25 years. He stated that something would have had to happen to him through his years that would result in him hanging up the cowl and cape. According to Muschietti:
“And my idea was, he did something that goes against his code and killed a criminal in front of [the criminal’s] child—not knowingly, but he still did it. Which is an exact mirroring situation of what happened to him when his parents were killed in front of him [next to] Monarch Theaters, and that created the monster that The Batman is.”
This is an interesting take on Bruce Wayne, but it lines up with how Keaton portrayed the character. He tried to stop Catwoman from killing in Batman Returns, though he was unsuccessful. Barbara Muschietti also commented on Keaton’s iteration having more “heart” than the other versions, which also lines up.
Keaton’s Batman caring more deeply led to him retiring after he killed a criminal in front of their child. It is a direct violation of his own moral code but also mirrors what happened to Wayne as a child. A random criminal killed his parents, completely ruining his life. Though his version may not have intentionally done so, he did the same to this child.
Related: DC Star Interested in Changing Roles for New ‘Batman’ Movie
Granted, the person he killed was a criminal and killed unintentionally, but it did not change how horrific it would be for Batman to experience. Naturally, he thought giving up his life as the Caped Crusader was necessary. We hope this story can be expanded upon at some point. We all wish to see Keaton return as Bruce Wayne, and this is the type of story we would love to see shown on the big screen.
What do you think of Michael Keaton’s Batman retirement reason? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments!