Credit: NetflixTim Burton was once a prolific DC creator. He has two stellar Batman films that saw arguably the best Batman appear, Michael Keaton. Despite Warner Bros. handing over the keys to the Dark Knight kingdom to Joel Schumacher, DC would call on Burton a third time. Burton’s final DC creation never moved forward, though it was shown in The Flash, and has led to Burton slamming Warner Bros.
Related: Tim Burton Reacts to “Soul-Sucking” AI Recreations of His Style
You could ask any Batman fan, and they would likely almost all pick Burton’s 1989 Batman or 1992’s Batman Returns as the pinnacle of stories about DC’s greatest hero. Burton was the first director to bring realism and a dark tone to Gotham’s protector on the big screen. Without Burton, we might never have seen perennial trilogies from Christopher Nolan and the current Matt Reeves Batman film.
Despite falling out with Warner Bros., Tim Burton would be called on to direct the much-maligned Superman Lives. The script for the film was written by fellow director Kevin Smith. However, studio producer Jon Peters added ridiculous premises like Superman not flying, a polar bear fighting Brainiac at the Fortress of Solitude, and Superman fighting a giant spider.
What made this film being canceled far worse is that it would have starred Nicolas Cage as Superman. There has been footage of Cage in the suit, which looked interesting.
The continued input from Peters forced creative differences with Tim Burton, who would leave to direct Sleepy Hollow (1999) with Johnny Depp instead. In a rather odd move of DC trying to assemble their own Multiverse, Cage’s Superman appeared in The Flash, which Burton was not a fan of.
Tim Burton Slams Warner Bros. For Using Nicolas Cage Superman
Nicolas Cage says seeing his cameo in ‘THE FLASH’ was satisfying.
“I was glad I didn’t blink. For me, it was the feeling of being actualized.”
(Source: https://t.co/fG3AlZyxDV) pic.twitter.com/MkIDsPKTjN
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 29, 2023
Tim Burton was interviewed by BFI when the question of his career landed on his failed Superman Lives production ending a meager two weeks before it was meant to start shooting. Burton was asked how he feels about Warner Bros. using his creation in The Flash. According to Burton:
“But also it goes into another AI thing, and this is why I think I’m over it with the studio. They can take what you did, Batman or whatever, and culturally misappropriate it, or whatever you want to call it. Even though you’re a slave of Disney or Warner Brothers, they can do whatever they want. So in my latter years of life, I’m in quiet revolt against all this.”
Burton’s “quiet revolt” is well justified, as he has had to watch his creations be used in a manner he likely did not agree to. Even more odd is The Flash horrifically bombed at the box office, and it might look even more desperate that Warner Bros. decided to add Nicolas Cage into the film for pure shock value.
Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) and the many versions of The Flash mess with the DC timeline so much that it causes a multitude of alternate realities to crash against one another, ultimately landing on showcasing Nicolas Cage as Superman. What makes the cameo even weirder is that it has nothing to do with the story.
The Flash could have easily had a multitude of variations of Barry Allen in the scene instead of attempting to rely on the shock of seeing Cage in the Superman suit. It was done with CGI and the ridiculous premise of Superman fighting a giant spider. Tim Burton takes umbrage with the entirety of the scene being used, and rightfully so.
Related: DC Is Bringing Back the Michael Keaton ‘Batman’
Tim Burton may have made two of the best Batman movies ever (yes, they are good), but it looks as though he might never want to work with Warner Bros. on their DC stories ever again. He might not want to work with Warner Bros. again, either.
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