Inside Michael Keaton's Return as Batman in DC's The Flash

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Here's your inside look at Michael Keaton returning as Batman for the DC Comics superhero movie The Flash.  The Flash Cast:  Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, Ron Livingston, Michael Keaton, Kiersey Clemons, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue and Sasha Calle  Stream The Flash now on digital!

Transcript

00:00 ♪♪

00:12 For me, it was very exciting,

00:14 the idea of bringing back Michael Keaton as Batman.

00:18 You know, obviously because I saw Batman in the movies

00:20 when I was a teenager.

00:22 To be honest, the fact that we'd be able

00:24 to bring Michael Keaton back as the Tim Burton Batman

00:27 was one of the things that cemented our decision

00:33 to make "The Flash."

00:34 ♪♪

00:47 We get Michael Keaton Batman.

00:48 You know, when I read that, I was just knocked out.

00:51 As soon as I read that Michael Keaton was in,

00:53 you know, the whole idea of this multiverse,

00:54 I'm like, "Wow." It was just shocking.

00:56 That was the clincher.

00:57 When you return the page and you realize who it is,

00:59 you think, "Oh, that's great."

01:01 It's like bringing back a classic.

01:02 It's like bringing back the Beatles.

01:04 Many people probably think that they won't see that again

01:07 in their lifetimes, and they have to content themselves

01:10 with re-watching the old movies, you know,

01:12 "Batman" and "Batman Returns."

01:14 That's why it's so exciting, I think,

01:15 for people that were affected by the first Batman

01:18 to see that Batman is coming back again.

01:21 If Keaton's Batman, probably the one with the longest arc

01:24 and a more complex arc.

01:26 Michael Keaton's Batman adds heart.

01:30 He is a very human Batman,

01:34 and he is reluctant to come back.

01:37 The thing with Batman in general is that this man

01:40 that is immersed in this misery, in his childhood trauma,

01:43 and he doesn't seem to be able to overcome it,

01:46 is the only Batman apart from the Adam West version

01:50 that seems to have a sarcastic sense of humor about it.

01:54 I think it's very tied to a coping mechanism.

01:56 He has a very dark side to him, but there's a lightness to him,

01:59 and that's what I found remarkable of his performance.

02:03 What was kind of fun was that Michael Keaton's Bruce/Batman

02:06 had never been a mentor. He'd always been a lone wolf.

02:08 We'd never got to see him with a Robin

02:10 or with anyone younger like that,

02:12 and so to have him suddenly thrust

02:13 into that role of mentor was just kind of fun

02:16 and funny and challenging for him,

02:18 and I think it's great because Barry brings

02:21 to that relationship so much love,

02:22 so much trust from his own Bruce.

02:25 Having that kid suddenly show up in his life,

02:27 it changes Keaton's Bruce over the course of the movie,

02:30 and it lets the two Batmen kind of share one arc.

02:34 I really wanted to defy people's expectations

02:37 of where Bruce Wayne would be 30 years later,

02:40 and I also wanted to deepen the backstory of Bruce Wayne.

02:44 If Bruce Wayne, as the story tells,

02:46 has been retired for 25 years, what happened to him?

02:51 I always said something should have happened to Bruce Wayne

02:54 to want to stop being Batman, and my idea was

02:57 he did something that goes against his code.

02:59 He killed a criminal in front of his child,

03:01 unknowingly, but he still did it,

03:04 which is an exact mirroring situation

03:06 of what happened to him when his parents were killed

03:08 in front of the Monarch Theater,

03:10 and that created that monster that Batman is,

03:13 so he just couldn't cope with it,

03:15 and that's why he decided to shut off his other side,

03:19 Batman, and he hasn't been able to forgive himself,

03:22 and now the way we find him

03:24 is a bit of, like, the evolution of that journey.

03:27 You know, he's a tragic figure.

03:28 He's basically a character that is in search of redemption,

03:31 but eventually finds a way to do it by helping Barry.

03:36 Want some help?

03:37 ♪♪

03:47 We prepped a lot for when Michael would arrive

03:51 because he's such a huge, iconic star,

03:55 and his Batman is imprinted in every retina in the world.

04:00 One of the most exciting things to take on

04:03 was Michael Keaton's new Batsuit.

04:04 We all know very well, particularly in the costume world,

04:08 the original Batsuits that he wore in the 1989 movie

04:10 and in "Batman Returns," I think, '92,

04:12 so what we wanted to do is we wanted to be really true

04:14 to the technology involved in those costumes,

04:17 the look of those costumes,

04:18 and what would have happened in 30 years to those costumes.

04:21 What would they have become? How would they have developed?

04:25 One of the folklores about Michael Keaton's

04:27 original costumes were that they were really constrictive

04:29 and hard to move in, and then he developed,

04:31 as part of his character, what they called the Batman lean,

04:34 where, you know, he was unable to look up or look down,

04:37 look left, look right, so he used his entire body

04:39 to make those moves, very famously,

04:41 kind of leaning back to look up and looking down.

04:44 And so we took it on ourselves to try and create

04:47 a new rubber Batsuit that would be much more flexible,

04:50 much more comfortable, much more usable.

04:53 But when Michael put the cowl on,

04:54 the first time we explained to him, I said,

04:56 "Hopefully, Michael, we've put more movement into him,"

04:57 and he's going, "No, I can't have that.

05:00 There's no way we can have movement.

05:01 It's got to be that that's the only --

05:04 that's the really important thing."

05:06 "Okay, Corey, we will make sure it's nice and straight for you."

05:10 Trying to help, you know, best-laid plans and all that.

05:12 We got a report from Alex Byrne, our costume designer,

05:16 that he had gone very emotional when he first put on the suit

05:20 because it had been 30 years.

05:22 To see Michael in the suit, that was incredible.

05:24 Absolutely incredible.

05:26 It's a film memory I'll definitely take with me.

05:30 Michael is the ultimate pro.

05:33 He plays everything very small,

05:37 to the degree that you almost can't catch it.

05:41 But then it's projected onto the big screen,

05:45 and it is unbelievable the amount of control

05:50 he has over his face muscles,

05:53 his eyebrows, his eyes, his mouth.

05:57 Even when it's done at the smallest,

06:00 he is telling you exactly what needs to be told.

06:04 You want to get nuts?

06:08 Let's get nuts.

06:09 And it's something that I had never seen to that extent.

06:13 For me, it was magic.

06:14 And I think for Andy, too.

06:17 You're strapped to your parachute.

06:20 Working with Michael Keaton was insane.

06:23 He was so cool.

06:25 The dude is so fit.

06:27 I don't know where the fountain of youth is,

06:29 but he must be swimming in it.

06:30 Honestly, the guy is a ninja.

06:33 There was this day when we were filming in the kitchen,

06:35 and we were doing the rehearsals,

06:37 and Andy was just showing on an iPad

06:40 Michael the footage of the sequence that was happening.

06:43 And Michael just, like, jumped up, like, on the table

06:45 and was just, like, there, just like,

06:47 "Oh, yeah, yeah, cool, cool, cool.

06:49 Okay, yeah, yeah, got it, got it, got it."

06:51 And then I was looking at Michael Keaton on this table.

06:53 I was like, "Dude, what are you doing on the table?

06:56 Like, seriously."

06:57 I put my hand out to offer to help him down,

06:59 and he just went, "Oh, yeah, I'm cool."

07:00 He just--

07:02 Michael Keaton's Batman is iconic.

07:05 There are some very specific moments

07:07 that it's important the camera gives the audience

07:09 exactly what they want.

07:10 There are probably three points in that, dramatically.

07:14 First, when he's revealing his ears and his costume.

07:17 The second, obviously, is when we reveal

07:19 it's Michael as Batman for the first time,

07:21 which sends a chill down the back of my spine.

07:24 The last moment is his "Let's get nuts" line.

07:27 And it's just making sure that those moments are just right

07:29 because they give so much pleasure

07:31 to so many billions of people.

07:34 Michael's son and his grandson

07:36 were in Leavesden visiting one day,

07:39 and Michael told me, "When I did Tim Burton's Batman,

07:43 Sean--Sean is his son--

07:47 was four years old,

07:49 and now my grandson is four years old,

07:52 and he's seeing his grandfather as Batman."

07:56 And that was very emotional for him

07:57 and, of course, for us as well.

08:01 I think Keaton didn't know how he was gonna feel

08:04 about being this character again,

08:06 but to be honest, I think he's walking away from this movie

08:11 with a lot of love for Batman.

08:14 ♪ ♪

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08:24 ♪ ♪

08:26 ♪ ♪

08:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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