Would Batman 3 Have Been a Sequel to Returns?

[The Dark Knight]

In all honesty, that's the only logical reason I could think of. Otherwise, it doesn't make any sense to me if Batman was still wanted for the murder of the Ice Princess. What other logical reason is there for the police to light the Batsignal up in the sky? If Batman still hadn't been cleared of any wrongdoing by that stage then I'd imagine the Batsignal would've been destroyed and discarded by that stage.

True, and really, even if Batman wasn't cleared, it wouldn't matter to him anyway. Keaton's Batman wasn't what I would call police sanctioned per se. He kept a distance between himself and practically everyone else. He gave them the batsignal...aaand that's about it. There was minimal dialogue and minimal interaction. His only message was via a letter, saying I'll always be here looking out for your safety. Keaton's Batman was always going to do whatever he wanted.

[johnnygobbs]

In all honesty, that's the only logical reason I could think of. Otherwise, it doesn't make any sense to me if Batman was still wanted for the murder of the Ice Princess. What other logical reason is there for the police to light the Batsignal up in the sky? If Batman still hadn't been cleared of any wrongdoing by that stage then I'd imagine the Batsignal would've been destroyed and discarded by that stage.

True, and really, even if Batman wasn't cleared, it wouldn't matter to him anyway. Keaton's Batman wasn't what I would call police sanctioned per se. He kept a distance between himself and practically everyone else. He gave them the batsignal...aaand that's about it. There was minimal dialogue and minimal interaction. His only message was via a letter, saying I'll always be here looking out for your safety. Keaton's Batman was always going to do whatever he wanted.

I agree with this.  Batman would presumably have carried on.  But if he was still wanted by the police, they ran a risk using the Bat-signal, and he ran a risk going into Gotham since they'd presumably have a warrant for his arrest.

But no way were the police going to work with Batman unless he'd been cleared of the murder!  I'd be sickened if they did. 

[The Laughing Fish]

I've often heard of critics complain how Batman is too lethal in BR especially, but I think in a way that would realistically fit his psychological profile. Let's face it, in the real world, a vigilante like Batman would never gain any co-operation from the cops under any circumstances. Furthermore, Batman doesn't answer to anybody. He has no legal jurisdiction or authority to do the things he does i.e. taking evidence from crime scenes, assaulting and interrogating suspects. Sure, later Golden Age/Silver Age and maybe even some of the Bronze Age comics show that Batman was formally deputized as a law enforcer, but not nowadays. In reality, if Batman were to exist, he'd be considered a wanted criminal under the eyes of the law. Which is why in a way I'm rather comfortable that he doesn't interact too much with the police in the Burton films. It makes me wonder if critics would applaud Burton for applying realism if he had abandoned the Batsignal altogether and have Batman remain an outlaw throughout his series.  Not that I wish it would happen of course: the lack of Batsignal would make the film less imaginative.

In terms of whether or not they would allow Batman to return after what had happened, I dont think it'd have mattered - the next film would most likely been another chapter in the Batman series, like another comic story.  I doubt much attention would have been paid to making it all connect together tbh, but it were, I could just see it being a case of Batman having even less to do with Gordon, maybe that would have been why he enlists the help of Robin eventually?

Do you mean while Batman is still mistaken as a fugitive or after he's proven innocent? In any case, his association with Robin under such circumstances is quite a good idea.

[Seantastic]

In terms of whether or not they would allow Batman to return after what had happened, I dont think it'd have mattered - the next film would most likely been another chapter in the Batman series, like another comic story.  I doubt much attention would have been paid to making it all connect together tbh, but it were, I could just see it being a case of Batman having even less to do with Gordon, maybe that would have been why he enlists the help of Robin eventually?

Do you mean while Batman is still mistaken as a fugitive or after he's proven innocent? In any case, his association with Robin under such circumstances is quite a good idea.

Well thats the thing, it'd depend on what route the film actually went, but either way I think it'd work.

Like IF the police were after him, then he might feel he needs someone for general help, he adopts Robin and goes from there.  Or it could've worked how it did in Forever and Dick would have found the batcave and then just pushed to help.

I dont know, but remember, in terms of Batman being a fugitive, Gordon did yell to his men not to fire; so that clearly shows that Gordon had trust in Batman, even at such a time, so were the police REALLY against Batman?
I guess the one thing that Returns is missing is that one wrap-up scene where everything is laid-out, setting up the what was presumably already happening sequel :/

Oh well, its still the best film ever made!!

[Slash Man]

I've seen this story being shared a lot recently:
http://www.firstshowing.net/2013/michael-keaton-wanted-to-make-a-third-batman-movie-as-a-prequel/
Not exactly confirming Burton's vision, but Keaton's input was always welcomed and I'd imagine it'd be utilized.

The articles mention the parallels between the supposed story and Batman Begins, which would have given us a much different Batman movie a decade in advance. Obviously, it would've been tough to deliver an origin story as a third entry. Personally, I love the introduction and brief backstory we were given in the first film. Though I think the supposed backstory plot has more in common with The Mask of the Phantasm, coincidentally released the year after Returns, and directly influenced by Burton's films. Again, MotP was able to deliver a backstory plot in the thick of Batman: The Animated Series' run, and was able to seamlessly incorporate it into the plot. Had Batman 3 taken a cue from this, I could totally see it working.

[riddler]

This more pertains to the dark knight rises because Nolan actually does establish batman copycats but it can never be proven that the murderers of the ice princess and harvey dent were THE batman and not some copycat. The ice princess fell from a great distance away from any credible witnesses, very easy to raise reasonable doubt on the basis that the man in the bat suit could have been an imposter intended to frame Batman. Or that the princess was pushed. LIkewise with the Dent murder, why couldn't Gordon say it was an imposter or even make up a fake description of a person who doesn't exist? Or heck why couldn't they hide or destroy the body?

Even with Gordon blaming Batman, that wasn't a reason to give up being Batman. Bruce Wayne could have easily argued he took up the batman mantle after the 'original' one went away.


Back to the topic I don't think it would have; they were already thinking third film during the production of the second film and remember that Burton vetoed having Harvey Dent in the Shreck role likely because he wouldn't want to overly connect the second and third films.