*SPOILER THREAD* - The Flash

[The Joker]

Off topic to anything else we were discussing.

But while it was great seeing Keaton come back and fly the Batwing, I am a tiny bit disappointed that he never drove around in the Batmobile.

It's not a big deal. But considering how that car is such an iconic part of the Burton movies, it would've been nice to watch Keaton rev it up one more time.

Evidently, it was in the cards going forward. Nevertheless, given the circumstances with everything surrounding this movie and plans going forward, yeah, it would have been fun and now a sorely missed opportunity.

At least seeing it once again was cool. That Batmobile is a thing of beauty.

[The Dark Knight]

But while it was great seeing Keaton come back and fly the Batwing, I am a tiny bit disappointed that he never drove around in the Batmobile.

I knew for a long time the Batwing was the only vehicle he used in the movie. Which made one of the official posters, which depicted Batman standing next to the Batmobile, all the more puzzling to me. I don't know how many people actually saw that poster outside of fans like us, but it nonetheless created a false expectation that was never going to be met.

[KeatonisBatman]

But while it was great seeing Keaton come back and fly the Batwing, I am a tiny bit disappointed that he never drove around in the Batmobile.

Same. ALthough, I didn't realize it until the movie was over, then I went, hey waitaminute--! 

[Silver Nemesis]

Here's a pre-visualisation video of the action scenes in The Flash. It includes behind-the-scenes footage showing the choreography of Batman's silo fight against the Russian soldiers.

[The Joker]

[Silver Nemesis]

Picking up on something The Dark Knight posted in another thread, I wonder how Keaton feels about how The Flash turned out. He walked away from Batman Forever because he didn't like the lighter direction the franchise was heading in and because he thought the filmmakers should be focusing more closely on the central character, as Batman Begins eventually did (and/or because the studio refused his demand for more money). But was The Flash really any better? Is it a superior film to Forever? Is its treatment of Bruce Wayne as a character any more insightful?

We have to take into account that when Keaton signed on to make The Flash it was with the understanding he'd reprise the role in multiple films. Perhaps he would have got to explore more sides of the character, and revisit his origins, in some of those other movies. There's still a possibility that could happen, if the Batman Beyond movie ever gets off the ground (the success or failure of Beetlejuice II might be a determining factor in that). But if Keaton's time as Batman has ended with The Flash, do you think he's glad he made it? Or will he feel as though he dodged one bullet in 1995 only to be hit by a remarkably similar bullet in 2023?

Obviously he's in a different place career-wise than he was in 1995. He was extremely lucky to get the role of Batman back in the eighties, and luckier still to get the chance to reprise it in his sixties. No one could've predicted that would happen. Maybe he was just grateful that so many fans wanted him to return and decided to make the most of it. But given that Keaton's expressed admiration for the more serious tone of the Nolan films, I wonder how happy he is with how goofy The Flash turned out.

Between the box office failure of The Flash and the cancellation of Batgirl, it's hard to put a positive spin on Keaton's return. I'm glad he came back and I enjoyed his scenes in The Flash. But from an objective standpoint, his big return has hardly been a roaring success. And that's to say nothing of the Batman '89 comic, which IMO was far worse than The Flash. I'm glad Keaton's Batman has returned, but I'm still waiting for that killer film that can rank alongside B89 and BR. I'm hoping Burton will knock it out of the park with Beetlejuice II, and that the studio will give him creative carte blanche to make Batman Beyond and conclude his Batman trilogy. If that happens, and the movie lives up to our expectations, then the wait will have been worth it.

But if Bat-Keaton's story ends with The Flash, will Keaton himself be satisfied? What does everyone else think? Are you, as fans, glad that he returned or would you rather he'd left it at Batman Returns? I wish The Flash had been a better movie, but I'm still grateful to have one more Keaton Batman flick, even though it is clearly inferior to his previous two. There are aspects of Batman's portrayal in the new movie that I don't like – such as the silly bit where he's trying to intimidate the Russian guy by stamping his foot – but I'm still happy with 80-90% of Batman's scenes in The Flash.

And I'm still hopeful we'll get at least one more movie with his Batman to redeem the disappointments of the Batman '89 comic and The Flash. I'm also hoping for a satisfying fan edit of The Flash. But even if those things don't happen, I'm not sorry Keaton returned. Though I wonder if Keaton himself might be. I suppose it all depends on whether or not The Flash is the final chapter, or merely the precursor to something better.

How does everyone else feel now the dust's started to settle?

[thecolorsblend]

How does everyone else feel now the dust's started to settle?

In the end, this is not how I would've wanted Keaton to return. Yes, swapping in Grant Gustin (or any other actor) in Miller's place would address a lot of my problems with TF. Nuff said.

It looks to me like TF is the end of the line for Keaton as Batman. We got nostalgia, winks to unseen history between BR and TF, plus some fun action scenes. Keaton repeated some of his iconic lines and looked great in the Batsuit. So, I've got very few criticisms there.

For Keaton personally, I got the idea that he never actually wanted to leave the character in the first place. Or at least, he would've wanted to do another few movies for sure. I can see where the prospect of revisiting the character, even if it's to officially close the book, was appealing.

From a career standpoint, his star was already on the rise again before he came back to Batman. I think he relished coming back and putting his stamp back onto the character.

But I would guess that he also came back for the money. I don't know how much he was paid for TF and the other stuff he did. But I'm thinking it's MORE than enough to retire and ride off into the sunset.

Maybe I'm wrong. But I think Keaton might be drying his eyes with hundred dollar bills that his return to Batman is stillborn, and will likely go down in infamy.

On a selfish level, back in 2018, I believed Keaton had finished his run as Batman and was never coming back. But we got one last outing with him in the role. There were times when I felt my eyes well up in the theater. It was a very emotional thing to see him back in action.

In the end, I might've wanted another solo Keaton Batman film. But I'm happy with what we got.

it would've been nice to see him drive the og Batmobile one final time tho.

[eledoremassis02]

Listening to him talk about Shumacher questioning every idea he had "why does it have to be so dark?" and listening to Andy Muschietti talk about how he basically gave Keaton an open book to write says all it does for me.

Perhaps Keaton would have done Forever if he had more say in his character. I think comedy and darkness levels of the Flash and Batman Forever are similar.

[The Joker]

I am pretty sure Keaton's feelings about "The Flash" very possibly being his final outing in playing Batman, are conflicted. On one hand, it's fair to say that Keaton was handsomely compensated for returning to the part, however I can't imagine that he finds the final product of the film to be personally or creatively satisfying given all the changes and adjustments the film endured over it's unique production, in addition to his continued appearances being effectively nipped in the bud thanks to yet another change in course.

I agree that in light of seeing Keaton return as Batman in "The Flash", his performance did not come across as if he was simply phoning it in for a payday, but rather indicative that he does continue to have a personal affinity for the character after all these years. Which was nice to see, and I think, has been teased over the more recent years by Keaton himself given the publicly light hearted, "I'm Batman!" comments made at a University commencement speech, and revealing he would recite the line towards Tom Holland during making "Spider-Man: Homecoming". I remember thinking at the time, back when "Birdman" came out, that this would probably be about as close as we would see Keaton back in the batsuit. I'm glad that didn't turn out to be the case, even if the overall final product wasn't no where near ideal in returning such a iconic version of Batman to the silver screens.

Concerning "Batman Forever", I can envision Keaton being rather Ok in moving on to other roles following being informed that Burton wasn't returning to the director's chair. His 'dance partner', so to speak, would be missing, and being able to have the freedom to entertain other films/offers during this era would be rather resonant in how Keats shifted away from comedy films, and went forth in more dramatic roles/films during the late 1980s/early 1990s. Thus breaking the perception of some that he was just a comedic actor. Given Keaton's comments in interviews, most notably to me his interview segments in the 2005 Special Editions of B89 and BR, being primarily known as simply "Batman" wasn't something of particular interest to him at the time. However, as the saying goes, absence can make the heart grow fonder, and I think his affection for the character publicly revealed itself in more recent years. 

[The Dark Knight]

Listening to him talk about Shumacher questioning every idea he had "why does it have to be so dark?" and listening to Andy Muschietti talk about how he basically gave Keaton an open book to write says all it does for me.

Perhaps Keaton would have done Forever if he had more say in his character. I think comedy and darkness levels of the Flash and Batman Forever are similar.

I'm not going to pretend here. The prospect of Keaton coming back in any capacity, especially when it was just an idea, was never going to be rejected by me. It's something I wanted to see. From that perspective I'm glad The Flash's concept was followed through with. We can at least die knowing he did suit up again, even if the circumstances weren't ideal. The sequence with Keaton talking about his parents made it all worthwhile to me, and bits and pieces inside the Russian base. But before this his only red mark had been the McDonald's controversy and Returns suitability for children.