Batman Returns has my favorite Batman outfit on the big screen. What is yours?

[thecolorsblend]

I know this forum already covered these early Batsuit designs from the third Burton Batman film that never happened, but I noticed how this DeviantArt mock-up of how Keaton could've looked in costume is very identical to B89.



https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/get-a-look-at-the-michael-keaton-batman-3-costume/

I'm not very keen of the belt. I prefer the original belt design from the two Burton films.

If Keaton does come back, I wonder if they will recreate this Batsuit for a cameo costume appearance in The Flash?

I'm missing something here. Did the third Burton movie get as far as costume design? Or is that Schumacher's Panther suit with Keaton as the presumed actor?

[The Laughing Fish]

I'm missing something here. Did the third Burton movie get as far as costume design? Or is that Schumacher's Panther suit with Keaton as the presumed actor?

I think your second guess would be correct, because the third Burton film never even got to development. I guess Keaton was still expected to reprise the role for a third time, but bailed after he got a better idea of what BF was going to be. He might've been disappointed that Burton wouldn't come back, but maybe he was willing to stay on as long as the sequel appealed to him. Maybe that's why the production designers started working on the costumes based on his likeness, and the earlier drafts of BF featured heavy Burton references.

But as soon as Keaton understood what BF was going to be, he decided it would be best to quit. Thus, that would explain why the script was rewritten to drastically downplay or outright remove the Burton references, and the costumes were probably reworked to fit Kilmer, with some design modifications.

[thecolorsblend]

I'm missing something here. Did the third Burton movie get as far as costume design? Or is that Schumacher's Panther suit with Keaton as the presumed actor?

I think your second guess would be correct, because the third Burton film never even got to development. I guess Keaton was still expected to reprise the role for a third time, but bailed after he got a better idea of what BF was going to be. He might've been disappointed that Burton wouldn't come back, but maybe he was willing to stay on as long as the sequel appealed to him. Maybe that's why the production designers started working on the costumes based on his likeness, and the earlier drafts of BF featured heavy Burton references.

But as soon as Keaton understood what BF was going to be, he decided it would be best to quit. Thus, that would explain why the script was rewritten to drastically downplay or outright remove the Burton references, and the costumes were probably reworked to fit Kilmer, with some design modifications.

I don't tell this story very much because it's usually not relevant to anything.

But O'Donnell makes reference to an open nationwide casting call for Robin, which he was obviously puzzled by because he'd already signed on the dotted line to play the part. To this day, I have no idea what the casting call was all about.

However, I do know for a fact that the open casting call happened. Because a family friend auditioned for Robin. He submitted his pictures (I suggested wearing Robin's colors in his clothes because my opinion was actively solicited by the grownups since I was the resident comic book guy even back then) and then he got summoned for something in person. I don't know the details. But I would guess this was in the first quarter of 1994.

At that time, it was commonly assumed that Keaton would be coming back. I don't think Kilmer was cast until something like second quarter 1994 but I could be wrong.

Either way, the family friend was ultimately cut loose. And one reason that he was given is that he was "just too tall". My understanding is that Kilmer is right around six feet tall, just like the friend. But Keaton is obviously shorter. I think O'Donnell is shorter too.

So I'm operating under the theory that at least when the casting call happened, there was still hope for Keaton to come back. And nobody wanted a Robin who loomed over Batman. It doesn't explain the nationwide casting call (I still have no answers for that but I'm absolutely certain that they happened) but it does explain other things.

Anyway, hopefully you're getting some positive out of this.

[The Laughing Fish]

That's a quite a fascinating story, thanks for sharing!

I gather the casting call goes to show the studio never had any interest in Marlon Wayans starring as Robin?

For what it's worth, Keaton announced his departure in early July 94, with Kilmer being announced as his replacement a week later. So that would make it third quarter.

https://ew.com/article/1994/07/15/val-kilmer-takes-over-batman-forever/

Mind you, this announcement was made less than a year before BF was released to the whole world, and the film's production didn't start until September 94. That sounds insane compared to how films are made nowadays.

[thecolorsblend]

That's a quite a fascinating story, thanks for sharing!

I gather the casting call goes to show the studio never had any interest in Marlon Wayans starring as Robin?

For what it's worth, Keaton announced his departure in early July 94, with Kilmer being announced as his replacement a week later. So that would make it third quarter.

https://ew.com/article/1994/07/15/val-kilmer-takes-over-batman-forever/

Mind you, this announcement was made less than a year before BF was released to the whole world, and the film's production didn't start until September 94. That sounds insane compared to how films are made nowadays.

It does indeed. And I think it says a lot about how film production has changed over the years. BF had, what, fewer than 50 CGI shots in the movie? Maybe less than 30? Yeah, you can probably knock that many shots out in just a few months at most. The rest was mostly in-camera.

The other neat thing about doing films that way is that there's really not enough time for a lot of leaks and other stuff. So the movie starts shooting in September, maybe a paparazzi photo somehow hits the press in October or November or something, then comes the trailer and then the movie comes out. Such a rapid schedule was probably a good thing.