When did Batman retire? *Spoilers*

[eledoremassis02]

Next time I see The Flash I want to see if there are any hints about when Batman could have retired. Gotham is "the safest city in the world", so Batman was no longer needed.

Alfred is gone, and I am assuming he stopped around the same time, given that the talk of Alfred helps convince Batman to Return

The Batcomputer has been updated and features widescreen modern-ish monitors and the Batcomputer sports a mouse now (maybe thats a key).

The movie takes place around 2013 and in real life Michael Gough died in 2011. If Alfred died around that time and Batman retired around then, then he was inactive for 2-ish years wich I think could work well within the story.

If that is the case, that means he was Batman for about 23 years. Thats pretty respecatable.

[thecolorsblend]

Based on nothing, I assume he was active until the late 2000's. The city was cleaned up and Alfred was on his last legs. I like the idea of Bruce settling into a quiet retirement after the mission has been accomplished.

Plus, it's reasonable to infer that he's maintained his withdrawn/hermit ways.

[KeatonisBatman]

We do know for certain it was a couple of years based on the length of his hair    haha actually I suppose there's no way to tell for sure, but based on the amount of dust and cobwebs in the Batcave I imagined it was a decade or more.

[The Dark Knight]

We do know for certain it was a couple of years based on the length of his hair    haha actually I suppose there's no way to tell for sure, but based on the amount of dust and cobwebs in the Batcave I imagined it was a decade or more.

It's been a long time and ten years is a reasonable guess. TDK Rises went with eight. Unless Bruce had been working out and keeping in shape I'm unsure how he maintained his speed. At least in Rises we had an element in the story that spoke about body deterioration and a Batman who needed assistance to go back outside and fight crime. The dominant action from Keaton is good to see, but I do occasionally appreciate some real world details other than 'he's Batman'.

[KeatonisBatman]

Yeah now that I think about it... if Bruce Wayne was 40 in Batman Returns, let's assume he retired at 45 (that would line up with the Dark Knight Returns version of Batman). So that means he would've hung up the cape in 1997... 25-26 years ago. A long time.

But, even if he retired at 55, that's still 15 years ago. Is there any indication as to Batman's age in The Flash? I don't think he said how old he was, I was just assuming he was meant to be 65-ish or Keaton's actual age of 70.

[The Dark Knight]

I don't think he's meant to reflect Keaton's true age. I suspect in the film he's younger than that. And consider the fact the Keaton content takes place in an alternate 2013 given the Zod invasion playing out again.

[KeatonisBatman]

^haha, yes all good points. I'm probably overthinking it. If we stick with a roundabout age of 60, then I reckon you subtract 20 years (since Man of Steel and Batman Returns) and that'd be about right.

[Silver Nemesis]

But, even if he retired at 55, that's still 15 years ago. Is there any indication as to Batman's age in The Flash? I don't think he said how old he was, I was just assuming he was meant to be 65-ish or Keaton's actual age of 70.

Keaton was 37 when he shot Batman '89, but according to the original script Bruce is meant to be 35 in that movie. 2013 was 24 years later, which would make Bruce 59. So the 60 age, give or take a year, is roughly accurate for the Flashpoint Batman. Then he would've been around 70 in the deleted ending where he returns in the present, as well as in his subsequent appearances in Aquaman II and Batgirl.

The Dark Knight Returns Bruce is 55 when he comes out of retirement. The in-universe age of the Keaton Bruce is only about four or five years older than that when he returns in The Flash.

I like to think Bruce continued fighting crime for about another decade after Batman Returns, until he was about 50, then retired in the early 2000s. That would give him 14 or 15 years of continuous crime fighting to clean up Gotham, followed by ten years of retirement, then another ten years of active crime fighting following his return to duty (assuming his death during the Kryptonian invasion was averted).

Of course in the main timeline, the one seen in the original ending where Keaton replaced Affleck, he might never have retired at all.

[The Dark Knight]

I'm sure Keaton's Batman had a long career. In my imaginings over the years I never had the impression he quit shortly after Returns. I'd like to think just before Alfred died he got to see Gotham cleaned up and Bruce making the decision to quit. That would've given happiness and closure to both of them at the end of their long relationship together.

When Keaton suits up again (in the messed up timeline) it's due to factors outside of his control. Zod and these characters didn't exist in his world. His death was not his fault and would never have happened otherwise. On his watch crime by costumed mortal villains was cleaned up.

IMO he is sent back as the Big LebowKeat, in retirement once more. Which could leave it open for a Beyond film if this loose continuity was adhered to. Which would be fine. I quite like the narrative choices they made. Keaton looks so good in The Flash that a Beyond movie is probably possible any time over the next decade or longer.

[The Joker]

BatKeats retiring somewhere around the mid-late 2000's, is something I can roll with. I don't really like to think he's been retired, and alone, for 20 years (or more) by the point of the timelines convergence in "The Flash", but I guess 15 years or shorter would be more of the sweet spot that I can flow with.

At least it shortens the hermit lifestyle with Chicago's "25 Or 6 To 4" a little bit.