Batman (Michael Keaton)

Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman in The Flash

Wesley Strick

Sam Hamm

Warren Skaaren

Christina Hodson

Alfred Pennyworth (surrogate father)

### Abilities

Genius intellect, Expert detective, Skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant, Utilizes high-tech equipment

Bruce Wayne better known by his superhero alias Batman is a fictional character from Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher 1989-97 superhero film series, portrayed by Michael Keaton, based on the DC Comics character Batman, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.

This adaptation of the character maintains the origin of his parents being murdered in an alleyway behind a theatre, however this adaptation does not feature the killer as Joe Chill, but rather Jack Napier, who would go on to become Batman's arch-nemesis, the Joker.

## Role in the Films

### Batman

The audience is first introduced to Bruce as Batman when he witnesses a mugging of a tourist family in Gotham City. He tracked the thugs who committed the crime and told them to spread word of his presence to the rest of the criminals in Gotham, when one of the criminals scaredly asks "What are you?", he simply replies with "I'm Batman" and vanishes into the night. Prior to this, there has been numerous sightings of the vigilante, and a criminal associate of the muggers', Johnny Gobbs, who died after accidentally falling off from a roof (possibly while fleeing from Batman), creates a rumor that the vigilante killed Gobbs in a manner of a vampire that feeds on blood and cannot be killed. Batman's reputation as a menacing creature of the night that hunts wrongdoers strikes fear on the city's superstitious and cowardly including corrupt police lieutenant Max Eckhardt, who'd rather avoid talking about him in order to hide his. Publicly, Bruce involves himself with the city's infrastructures, but he is repeatedly absent from events such as a press conference headed by Mayor Borg in favor of fighting crimes on the city's streets and alleys. The next night, Bruce hosts a fundraiser at Wayne Manor to help fund the Gotham City 200th Anniversary Parade. At the party, Bruce met photographer Vicki Vale, as the two began conversing, Alfred arrived to let Bruce know that Commissioner Gordon had to leave the party quite unexpectedly. Bruce reviewed the Manor's surveillance cameras and discovered that Gordon had been summoned to Axis Chemicals due to a break-in by Jack Napier. Bruce suited up as Batman to assist Gordon in Napier's capture, knowing that the criminal's arrest might lead to crime lord Carl Grissom's conviction and possibly end his operations over the city. However, during the ensuing fight, a bullet ricocheted off Bruce's armor and pierced Napier's face, causing him to fall into a vat of chemicals below, seemingly killing him. Batman vanished from the scene before he could be captured by Gordon's men.

The next night Bruce would share an evening with Vale where the two began to fall in love, when Vale invited Bruce to lunch the next day, Bruce turned her down, as it was the anniversary of his parents' murder. Bruce left the scene at Crime Alley and witnessed a mob hit by the confirmed alive Jack Napier, now with his face bleached white, his hair turned green and a macabre smile etched into his face, calling himself "The Joker". Bruce then discovered that Napier had poisoned various consumer products with his laughing toxin, Smylex. After further investigation into Napier, Bruce is informed by Alfred that he has a date with Vale at the Flugelheim Museum. Bruce informs Alfred that he had no plans to meet with Vale that day, and discovers that the meeting was set-up by Napier, who had intended on gaining information on Batman via Vale. As Batman, he stormed the museum and rescued Vale from Napier's men, making their escape in the Batmobile. This would result in a chase between Napier's men and Batman, which resulted in Vale capturing several photos of Batman in action. The two return to Batman's hideout, The Batcave, where he revealed his investigation into Napier to Vale and gave her his research notes to release, before causing her to pass out with an incapacitating agent and confiscating the film from her.

Due to a suggestion from Alfred, Bruce headed over to Vale's apartment to inform her that he is in fact, Batman. However, the two are interrupted by the Joker. Bruce hid a silver tray under his shirt for protection before confronting the Joker. Bruce hints that he knows The Joker is Napier, and begins to act violently, to which the Joker responds with "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" before shooting him. Having been protected by the tray, Bruce retreated to the Batcave, and discovers that Napier was the one who killed his parents. Bruce slipped into a flashback of his parents death due to another television broadcast by Napier, and was awoken by Vale, having been led into the Batcave by Alfred, thereby uncovering his identity to her. Bruce then suited up as Batman and raided Axis Chemicals, which he had deduced as The Joker's hideout. He witnessed The Joker make his escape via personalized helicopter, and returned to the Batcave and headed to Downtown Gotham in the Batwing. Bruce came across The Joker's parade float during the 200th Anniversary Parade, where The Joker had planned on releasing Smylex on the citizens of Gotham from the parade balloons by luring the crowd by throwing money to them. After using the Batwing to dispatch of the balloons, Batman returned to the parade and killed many of The Joker's men, but was shot down by The Joker, crashing at the front steps of the Gotham Cathedral. He watched as Joker took Vale hostage and entered the cathedral.

Recovering from the crash, Batman pursued Joker and Vale into the cathedral, eventually coming across them at the top level. Batman revealed to Napier that he had killed his parents, and thus reveals his identity and that he wants revenge. After Batman beat the Joker over the edge of the cathedral, Joker then dragged Batman and Vale with him, leaving them dangling above the streets of Gotham as the Joker's helicopter arrived to collect him and escape. Determined to fulfill his vendetta, Batman used his grapple gun to tie one of the cathedral's gargoyles to The Joker's leg. Weighed down by the statue as he attempted to climb up the helicopter's ladder, causing the gargoyle to break free from its foundations, and causing Napier to plummet to his death. In the aftermath of taking down the Joker, the Gotham City Police Department awards Batman with his own personalized signal as a way of contacting him for cooperation. Due to his double-life as Batman however, Vale would eventually break up with Bruce.

### Batman Returns

During Christmas celebrations, Bruce was brought to the attention of the Batsignal in the sky, and discovered that the Red Triangle Gang (whom he and the police have been work on finding) had interrupted the Gotham City Tree Lighting Ceremony and had taken Max Shreck hostage. While Batman attempted to deter the gang, the next morning a member of the gang kidnapped the Mayor's baby during a speech denouncing the previous night's attacks. The baby is "saved" by a mysterious man called "The Penguin". The Penguin claims that he hopes to find his parents, who had abandoned him when he was an infant due to his deformities. Bruce initially felt sympathy for the Penguin, but after seeing him with Shreck, his suspicions increased considerably. Bruce discovers that Penguin was once a performer in the Red Triangle Circus, where a series of disappearances of children occurred. He then suspects that the Penguin already know who his parents were and is the gang's leader, and is planning something else.

Penguin grew in popularity and discovered that his name is Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, and that both his parents were deceased. Bruce had a meeting with Shreck to contest Shreck's plans to build a new powerplant, during the meeting Bruce met Selina Kyle, Shreck's secretary, with whom Bruce begins a romantic relationship, unaware that she is the masked vigilante known as "Catwoman". Batman first encounters Catwoman during a confrontation with the Penguin, where the two come across her as she had finished vandalizing a Shreck's Department Store, and causing it to explode. Batman attempted to pursue Catwoman, only to grow confused due to her passive aggressive attacks, and attempted seductions of Batman. After returning to the Batcave, Penguin officially announced his plans to run for Mayor of Gotham City.

Some nights later, Bruce and Selina share a date at Wayne Manor, and discover via television broadcast that Penguin was attempting to frame Batman using one of his Batarangs at the Relighting of the Tree Ceremony, and had kidnapped the "Ice Princess", who was supposed to press the button to light the tree. While investigating the disappearance, the members of the Red Triangle Gang begin working on modifying the Batmobile to allow The Penguin remote control access. Batman found the Ice Princess standing on the edge of a rooftop. The Penguin arrived and startled the girl by opening one of his trick-umbrellas and causing a swarm of bats, which knocks her off the roof to plummet to her death. She landed on the button used to light the tree, causing a mass swarm of bats to attack the onlookers.

Batman gets shot at by the Gotham City Police Department upon his attempted escape, due to his reputation and the apparent evidence that places him as the culprit of the murder. Batman fended off Catwoman and returned to the Batmobile, which has now been hacked by The Penguin, who takes the car on a destructive joyride. Despite regaining control of the vehicle, Penguin's plan had succeeded and Batman's reputation as a hero had been tarnished. In retaliation, Bruce hacked into the Gotham Plaza's speakers and played the incriminating quotes Penguin had said over the monitor during the joyride during one of his public speeches. Penguin reacts violently to the crowds backlash and opens fire on them and flees the scene, with Shreck rescinding his support of Cobblepot.

Meanwhile, Bruce made plans to attend Shreck's masquerade ball in hopes of running into Selina. The two meet at the party, neither of them wearing costumes, and Selina suffers a mental breakdown and announces to Bruce her plans to kill Shreck. While attempting to console Selina, she makes an off-hand comment that leads to Bruce and Selina deducing each other's secret identities. The two left to sort out their issues as Penguin crashed through the floor of the room, announcing his plans to kill all of the first-born sons of Gotham, and takes Shreck hostage. Batman arrived and interrogated Penguin's right-hand man, The Organ Grinder, and learned of Penguin's hideout underneath the Arctic World exhibit at the abandoned Gotham Zoo. Batman entered the Gotham Sewers via Batboat as Alfred worked to hack Cobblepot's pet penguins armed with missiles who were marching into Gotham Plaza to claim more lives. Batman confronted Penguin and used his own penguin army to fire their missiles at The Penguin's hideout, causing Cobblepot to fall through the skylight into the pool of toxic waste he had used to kill the children.

Batman then attempted to stop Selina from killing Shreck, confirming their identities to each other, his attempts to calm Selina did not work, as Selina used a taser she had acquired during the Red Triangle Gang's initial attack to electrocute and murder Shreck, and caused the power generator to explode. Bruce searched for Selina in the wreckage, only to find the charred corpse of Shreck. Penguin rises from the sewage and bleeds to death, with Bruce watching as his penguin army dragged him into the water to serve as his grave. Bruce began driving around the streets of Gotham hoping to find Selina. After believing to have seen her silouhette, Bruce pursues her down an alleyway, only to find a black cat there which he adopts.

### The Flash

In 2022, Barry Allen / The Flash (Ezra Miller) travels back in time to prevent the murder of his mother, and accidentally lands in an alternate 2013, where various events prior to the date of his mother's murder have changed and an older Wayne (Keaton) has retired as Batman and lives as a recluse in Wayne Manor. He encounters Barry, who has broken into the manor, as well as a younger Barry from his timeline that has just gained powers that were accidentally transferred to him by the older Barry. Wayne theorizes that the Flash has tangled multiple universes into one, and the older Barry explains that General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his army are preparing to invade Earth and that they must find Superman to help them defeat Zod. Wayne declines and leaves them.

The two Barrys break into the Batcave and use the computer to try and locate Superman. After seeing the older Barry working to find him, Wayne changes his mind and comes out of retirement to help the Barrys find Superman, who they believe is being held at a military site in Siberia. The group travels to Siberia to rescue Superman, but instead find his cousin Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle). They return to the manor with Zor-El, who leaves to find Zod.

Wayne helps the older Barry recreate the incident that granted him his powers. Barry is struck by lighting, but before Wayne can activate it again, the circuits of the machine fry. Zor-El returns and flies Barry into the sky to be struck again, and he successfully regains his powers. Wayne, the Barrys, and Zor-El team up to fight Zod's forces in a desert. Zor-El is killed by Zod and Wayne dies after the Batwing crashes into a Kryptonian ship. The Barrys attempt to go back in time to ensure both Wayne and Zor-El live, but fail. After confronting a dark alternate self, Barry goes back once again and allows his mother's death to occur, unraveling the universes and preventing Zod's successful invasion.

After returning to his original timeline, the older Barry's father is proven innocent of the murder of his wife, and that reality's Bruce Wayne calls Allen to congratulate him. When he arrives to the courthouse, Wayne (Clooney) looks different than the one Allen knows (Ben Affleck), as he slightly altered the timeline on his way back to create evidence that proved his father's innocence.

## Appearances

* Batman - Michael Keaton
* Batman Returns - Michael Keaton
* The Flash - Michael Keaton
* Batgirl - Michael Keaton

## Reception

Michael Keaton's portrayal as Batman was seen as hugely influential towards further adaptations of the character. Keaton's portrayal inspired the portrayal by Kevin Conroy in *Batman: The Animated Series*. As the first version of the character to carry a grapple device with a motorized reel, as well a cape that can harden and transform into a hang-glider, these concepts would become highly influential for most contemporary appearances of the character. Keaton's distant, monosyllabic persona in-costume has been paid tribute to throughout multiple adaptations of the character, including video game appearances and homages.

This adaptation of the character was also seen as the first to change their voice while in costume as Batman, something which future actors Kevin Conroy, Ben Affleck and Christian Bale would also add to their interpretations. Michael Keaton's portrayal of the character appears on AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains at #46 on the heroes side, while Jack Nicholson's portrayal as the Joker ranked 45th on the villains side.

### Birdman Comparisons

Due to his involvement in the film, Michael Keaton's role in the film *Birdman* directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu has been compared to Keaton's own experiences as Batman. Many people have come to the conclusion that the film is a reflection of Michael Keaton's life post-Batman, as the film itself focuses on a struggling, aging actor who is best known for having played a winged superhero earlier in his career.

When Inarritu contacted Keaton about taking the role of Riggan, Keaton asked him if he was making fun of him for playing Batman. Despite comparisons between Riggan and Keaton and many people believing that the role was taken by the actor to let out frustration at the role, Keaton has claimed that he loves talking about his time as Batman, and is extremely grateful for the role.

Keaton was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in *Birdman*, his first ever nomination, and this was what helped him gain the villainous role of The Vulture in *Spider-Man: Homecoming*, which is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

## Comic Appearances

### Film Adaptations

A comic adaptation of Tim Burton's *Batman* titled *Batman: The Official Comic Adaptation of the Warner Bros Motion Picture* was released in June 1989. Longtime Batman editor at DC Dennis O'Neil adapted the screenplay, with art provided by Jerry Ordway.

A comic adaptation for *Batman Returns* titled *Batman Returns: The Official Comic Adaptation of the Warner Bros Motion Picture* was released in June 1992. The story was once again adapted by Dennis O' Neil, with pencils provided by Steve Erwin and inked embellishments by José Luis García-López. Many of the illustrations García-López did for the film's style guide were re-purposed for the comic adaptation.

### Canonical Comic Continuation

A comic continuation that was to chronicle the events of Tim Burton's failed third Batman film titled *Batman '89* was submitted to DC Comics written by Joe Quinones and Kath Leth in March 2016. The run was inspired by DC's recent comic run *Batman '66*, which was a continuation of the 1966 television series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. The story was to be a direct sequel to first two Tim Burton's Batman films with visual allusions to Michael Keaton as Batman, Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face, Marlon Wayans as Robin, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, and Robin Williams as The Riddler. The story would also introduce iterations of Barbara Gordon, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn into the world. However, the comic run was initially rejected by DC.

In February 2021, it was confirmed that DC would in fact be proceeding to developing a canonical comic continuation of Tim Burton's *Batman* films, with screenwriter Sam Hamm returning to write the script while Joe Quinones provides the comic's art.

## In Other Media

### Television

* Keaton's Batman was referenced in the Arrowverse television crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths". This series establishes the universe in which *Batman* (1989) and *Batman Returns* (1992) exist as Earth-89, with Robert Wuhl, who portrayed Alexander Knox in *Batman*, reprising his role for the series for a cameo appearance. In the crossover, Bruce Wayne/Batman is mentioned as having captured the Joker (despite his apparent death) and married Selina Kyle.

### Video Games

* The suit from Tim Burton's *Batman* films was added as an alternate skin to *Batman: Arkham Knight* during a free update in August 2015.

## See Also

* Batman (Lewis Wilson)
* Batman (Robert Lowery)
* Batman (Adam West)
* Batman (Kevin Conroy)
* Batman (Val Kilmer)
* Batman (George Clooney)
* Batman (Christian Bale)
* Batman (Will Arnett)
* Batman (DC Extended Universe)
* Batman (Robert Pattinson)