Batgirl (2022)

[Gotham Knight]

[The Dark Knight]

The obvious is confirmed. I see the yellow oval, and the overall suit seems Returns influenced despite the low quality of the images. I'm hoping an offical still of Keaton is released for The Flash some time after The Batman's release.

I believe this movie will effectively serve as Keaton's main Beyond project, mentoring his replacement. Throwing in some flashbacks to Keaton's decision to retire would be a wise decision, either in this movie or The Flash.

Makes me wonder if this is a flashback or Keaton does in fact continue fighting crime at this stage of his career.

[thecolorsblend]

Am I the only one who smells a rat here? The "spy" photos are remarkably decent quality in terms of details, they show just enough detail to get people talking, the camera angle never changes, the overall good quality never changes, nothing too spoilery is revealed, the color is gone (presumably to give it an "authentic" faux spy photo tone). Someone snapped those photos in full view of the crew and nobody noticed? Seems odd.

I'll just say it. I think the studio engineered this "leak". We're back to the bad old days of the 2000's where production assistants would release "spy" photos they took themselves to approved outlets to drum up interest in the movie.

Other studios seem capable of keeping details about their productions completely under wraps even when they do location shooting. So, it's funny that somehow Batgirl and Flash photos keep getting leaked out of "secure" location shooting, eh? Even more convenient that many of the leaks highlight Keaton's involvement. Big coincidence, I'm sure.

It might be that I'm getting cynical in my old age. But nothing about this feels remotely organic. But it just feels like some hack is deliberately releasing new DCEU stuff every time news about The Batman and the Reevesverse gets traction. The marketing push for TB's theatrical release started last week so the timing of these set photos has me wondering.

[The Dark Knight]

I'm always cynical. Anything else is just being plain dumb. I'm sure it was leaked out. I'm not willing to say it's designed to hurt The Batman, though. Based on recent moves such as the early press screenings and having no review embargo at all, I think the studio has the opinion that movie is too big to fail, and they'd be right. I'd say they're setting the stage for the coming year. A brief sizzle reel was released the other day showing The Flash, Shazam and the like. Batman is the biggest hook with any of these projects so that's what they're always going to lead with. Especially if Keaton has appearances in all of those productions, leading in to their Justice League project, as I think Silver rightly pieced together.

[Gotham Knight]

Here is a video. It is believed this is part of the flash back scenes that we know are being done for the movie. It is possible that Babs meets Batman as a kid.

[Silver Nemesis]

Makes me wonder if this is a flashback or Keaton does in fact continue fighting crime at this stage of his career.

It does seem likely that the Burton Batman will be retired or semi-retired at the beginning of The Flash, and that the other heroes will have to persuade him to return to active duty. I think a flashback depicting why he retired will probably occur in The Flash and will include the scene of the bloody batsuit from the teaser trailer.

I'm expecting something similar to Batman's first fight against the Mutant Leader in The Dark Knight Returns, or the prologue scene in the first episode of Batman Beyond. Bruce probably got messed up by one his foes (Billy Dee Two-Face? Bane? Ra's al Ghul? The Mutant Leader?) and realised he couldn't cut it anymore, so he hung up the cowl. Or maybe he screwed up in another way and someone got hurt in the crossfire, similar to how the Earth-Two Batman burnt his batsuit and called it quits after his wife Selina got killed (although he still later returned for one final costumed battle).

Keaton's character in Batgirl will presumably be the new DCEU Batman – the one that will likely be introduced at the end of The Flash – rather than the Burtonverse version. The relationship between the two should be similar to the relationship between the Pre-Crisis Earth-One Batman in the comics and his Post-Crisis New Earth counterpart. Certain things carried over from the Pre-Crisis era into the Post-Crisis canon (e.g. the Ra's al Ghul stories) while other things didn't (the Catwoman stories), and similarly I expect certain things from the Burton continuity will carry over into the new DCEU timeline while still allowing the filmmakers the freedom to alter or retcon other things. For example, the new DCEU Batman might have saved Vicki Vale from the Joker at the Flugelheim Museum, but in this timeline the Joker might still be alive and might not be the killer of Bruce's parents. I'm just theorising, but I think this is how things might pan out.

Regarding these images of Keaton being suited up in Batgirl, I speculated in another thread recently that the film might feature a prologue or flashback scene showing a digitally de-aged Keaton fighting Brendan Fraser's Firefly alongside Robin when he was still in his prime (i.e. not long after he defeated Penguin). Maybe Gotham Knight's correct about a young Barbara witnessing this battle, and perhaps the memory of this experience later inspires her to become Batgirl. The fact J K Simmons has red hair in the latest set pics...

...would further support the idea that this is a flashback scene.

The rumours circulating about Keaton's future in the DCEU would seem to indicate that his Batman is still at least semi-active, with some claiming that he will lead the Justice League in the next JLA movie. If so, I would again cite the Earth-Two Batman as a precedent for what they might be doing in the DCEU. That version of the character entered a semi-retired state during his winter years, effectively passing responsibility for the protection of Gotham to Dick Grayson and his daughter, the Huntress. Yet he still occasionally donned his suit and went back into action, even when he was well into his sixties.

Perhaps that's what Keaton's Batman is doing now – taking a backseat regarding Gotham, and allowing Nightwing and Batgirl to handle that side of things, while concentrating his own efforts on larger planetary threats that involve the Justice League.

I remember Keaton commenting on the backlash to his casting when he was promoting the 1989 film, saying that he thought it was "silly" that fans cared so deeply about the character and that he would often experience a feeling of absurdity when on set in the costume. Now compare those remarks with this more recent quote about his latest Batman films:

"What's really interesting is how much more I got [Batman] when I went back and did him. I get this on a whole other level now. I totally respect it. I respect what people are trying to make. I never looked at it like, 'Oh, this is just a silly thing.' It was not a silly thing when I did Batman. But it has become a giant thing, culturally. It's iconic. So I have even more respect for it because what do I know? This is a big deal in the world to people. You've got to honor that and be respectful of that. Even I go, 'Jesus, this is huge.'"

https://www.indiewire.com/2021/08/michael-keaton-read-flash-script-three-times-understand-multiverse-1234658784/

It sounds like he's taking the role more seriously than he did when he was younger. Maybe the prestige surrounding the Nolan trilogy or Phoenix's performance in Joker altered his perception of the material and its potential. Whatever the reason, he sounds creatively charged about returning to the role, and I don't think he'd be doing these films if he didn't believe he could explore a fresh angle on the character. He really doesn't need to be making these movies at this stage of his career. Things are going well for him: he's just won his second Golden Globe and landed his sixth Screen Actors Guild Award nomination (it'll make his fourth win if he gets it), and he's got the Spider-Man franchise to help keep him in the popular limelight and bring in any extra cash he might need. I get the impression he's genuinely enthusiastic about these latest Batman films. Certainly more than he was about Batman Forever and perhaps even Batman Returns. Whether that enthusiasm will turn out to be justified or misplaced remains to be seen, but if nothing else I have faith that Keaton will try to safeguard the integrity of his character.

On the subject of Keaton's age, I happened to watch Martin Campbell's The Protégé (2021) a few weeks ago, and I was impressed by how much action he performs in it. He takes a backseat during the first half of the movie, but in the second half he has a ton of gunplay and fight scenes. I've seen Keaton in action movies before – One Good Cop, Desperate Measures, American Assassin, etc – but I think he does more action in The Protégé than in any of those other movies. Here's one of his fight scenes.

Obviously stunt doubles are employed here, but apparently Keaton still did most of the sequence himself. He's not jacked like Stallone, Van Damme or Gibson, but he's in decent shape and moves well for a man his age.

So I'm not too worried about how he'll handle the action as Batman. It'll be a lot easier for them to use stunt doubles when he's wearing the mask anyway, but after seeing The Protégé I'm hopeful that he'll perform at least some of the fighting himself.

Recently I've been thinking about all the comics featuring older versions of Batman: the Bronze Age Earth-Two comics, the Thomas Wayne Flashpoint Batman, the post-Flashpoint Thomas Wayne Earth 2 Batman, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Beyond, Kingdom Come, Year 100 etc. There are many classic stories centred on the idea of Batman getting old that we'd never normally get to see adapted in live action because they keep rebooting the movies with a younger actor every few years. But now, with Keaton, we might finally get to see some of that material incorporated into the newest films.

If all we had was an aging Batman then I could understand fans being worried, but the fact we're getting a new young Batman as well – and by the looks of it, a very good one – means we'll have the best of both worlds. Over the next few years we'll have gritty, grounded stories featuring the young Battinson in his prime, and we'll have more fantastical adventures featuring the mature Bat-Keaton and his allies in the Justice League. If the new DCEU Batman films are bad, then we've always got Battinson and Reeves to fall back on. While I definitely have issues with the way WB is handling the DCEU, and I think there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about its upcoming films, I still have hope that the Keaton Batman aspect will turn out all right.

I'm surprised they haven't released an official image of him in the suit yet. Normally the studio would try to do that before set pics leaked. Perhaps there's a new trailer imminent that will include an official reveal?

[Travesty]

Hmmmm, those are interesting spy pics.

[The Dark Knight]

I get the impression he's genuinely enthusiastic about these latest Batman films. Certainly more than he was about Batman Forever and perhaps even Batman Returns. Whether that enthusiasm will turn out to be justified or misplaced remains to be seen, but if nothing else I have faith that Keaton will try to safeguard the integrity of his character.

I think he could see it as a victory lap before he does get too old and retires from acting. Age does have the tendency to make people nostalgic. If he's still known as Batman after doing two films 30 years ago, from his POV he may as well embrace the tag wholeheartedly as Adam West ultimately did.

Recently I've been thinking about all the comics featuring older versions of Batman: the Bronze Age Earth-Two comics, the Thomas Wayne Flashpoint Batman, the post-Flashpoint Thomas Wayne Earth 2 Batman, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Beyond, Kingdom Come, Year 100 etc. There are many classic stories centred on the idea of Batman getting old that we'd never normally get to see adapted in live action because they keep rebooting the movies with a younger actor every few years. But now, with Keaton, we might finally get to see some of that material incorporated into the newest films.

All very good stories. I'm ready to see the early years with Reeves, because while TDK Returns is my Batman Bible it has been overused. My preference does mostly rest in the later years of Batman's career, though. He's seen and done it all, accumulated a complete gallery of rogues, and has a lot more mental and physical scars. If they could reference the stories you've listed even in a brief way that would be excellent.

TDK Returns: Mutant Leader type fight
Beyond: Retired and mentoring replacements
Kingdom Come: Using a similar mech suit for battle
Year 100: 'That can't be Batman out there fighting crime after all these years'
Flashpoint: Moving on from lethality to be a purer hero and 'good man'

[Gotham Knight]

Here is video Batman and Gordon.
https://t.co/uhAfKshV6a

Here is a photo

[DocLathropBrown]

If all we had was an aging Batman then I could understand fans being worried, but the fact we're getting a new young Batman as well – and by the looks of it, a very good one – means we'll have the best of both worlds. Over the next few years we'll have gritty, grounded stories featuring the young Battinson in his prime, and we'll have more fantastical adventures featuring the mature Bat-Keaton and his allies in the Justice League. If the new DCEU Batman films are bad, then we've always got Battinson and Reeves to fall back on. While I definitely have issues with the way WB is handling the DCEU, and I think there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about its upcoming films, I still have hope that the Keaton Batman aspect will turn out all right.

I'm surprised they haven't released an official image of him in the suit yet. Normally the studio would try to do that before set pics leaked. Perhaps there's a new trailer imminent that will include an official reveal?

Finally, some positivity here. I was starting to feel like I was the only person out of this community that dared to look on the bright side. Granted, others are entitled to their opinion, but some need to realize they've become a wet blanket.

I'm tremendously excited for the future of the DCEU specifically because of Keaton--granted, I think the DC movies have been on a generally upward trend since the release of Suicide Squad, even if that film could have been a lot better, every film since has been better than the absolute dumpster fire of BvS. I even enjoy the theatrical cut of JL, even if Whedon is a jerk. I have no excitement for Reeves' version as it looks to me to be even more watered-down than Nolan's trilogy, though I'll be there to see it and hope to be won over.

If you had told me a decade ago that not only would Keaton return to Batman--much less to return for a length of time and be at the heart of not-only a proper Bat family but also a DC universe? I'd have committed you to Arkham. I won't hold my breath for him being semi-retired--the idea that he'll get any more action after The Flash is too good to be true for me at the moment, but the idea of his Batman starting the Bat family because he's too old to do it by himself anymore makes a lot of sense for how he's always portrayed the character.

I do hope 89 and BR get more-or-less folded into the DCEU history--not only since they'd be the official start of the universe now, but also so it still feels like the same Batman as before. Even if it isn't and it's a new, amalgamated iteration, at least we get a send-off for the Batman we knew in The Flash. I prefer BF as the continuation of Burton's Batman for its resolution to his character and addressing his kills during the Burton flicks. However, getting a new Earth Keaton Bruce who either never killed or still went on a journey to be better makes me happy on the other end--while I never would write-off an entire performance for such a reason, I still have considerably come around on appreciating the no-kill code.

The best outcome for me is that 89 and BR still happened exactly, just presumably in a slightly more recent time frame and with Simmons as Gordon. Mention that Wayne eventually had the same BF epiphany about vengeance and he cleaned up his act, and then roll-on DCEU. I'm partial to the idea that Leto was a second, copycat Joker who came later--perhaps this would please his most ardent detractors.