If you grew up in the 80s or 90s, you have probably seen a lot of takes on the Dark Knight himself. And if you really care to fight about it, you probably have a lot of feelings about Michael Keaton's Batman most of all. The beloved actor has been a fixture in nerdom for quite some time and his role as Bruce Wayne in the Tim Burton films cemented his legacy (and ushered in a love for the role that inspired movies like Birdman and then landed Keaton a role as Adrian Toomes in Spider-Man: Homecoming). But we haven't seen Keaton as the caped crusader in decades. That is, until now.

The Flash is the first time fans will be reunited back with Keaton as Bruce Wayne, and it wasn't an easy time getting him there. Keaton's return to the world of DC comes after years of both praise and mockery for those first few movies with Keaton's Bruce Wayne at the helm. But for so many of us, one of the first times that we've seen Batman in live action was through Keaton's performance in both Batman and Batman Returns.

At a special screening of The Flash that Collider's Therese Lacson attended, both Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muchietti spoke about the film, where it falls into the DCU, and there were a lot of moments that came from a place of nostalgia for past DC movies, specifically on how they got Keaton to join the cast for the film. Interestingly, a lot of it came down to his super suit. He was also meant to return in the now canned Batgirl movie and so, for fans of Keaton, his return in The Flash is an incredibly important one and long overdue.

Michael Keaton as Batman on the poster for The Flash
Image via Warner Bros.

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Bringing Back the Bat

We are, as a society, not lacking for Batman content. There is always a new movie of some kind, but the question of whether or not it is a good take on the character is almost always up for debate. For many, Batman is hard to navigate. He's a character who is a complicated but brilliant detective and outside of Robert Pattinson's take on Bruce in the Matt Reeves movie The Batman, the only other Dark Knight who really got to flex his investigative skills was Keaton's.

So it is brilliant having him back in the world of The Flash and the DCU as a whole and everyone knows that. At the screening, Barbara Muschietti revealed that they took Keaton out to an Italian restaurant to talk about the role, and he left with the script rolled under his arm. "So Michael hadn't put on the suit for 30 years, and actually the last time he had put on the suit, Sean, his son who's now a talented music producer with his own family, was a little kid. So he put on his suit, and the guy looked fucking great, and Alex Byrne, our costume designer, also made a fantastic suit where this guy could actually move his neck, lift his leg."

Andy Muschietti elaborated on Keaton putting the suit back on, saying, "At one point, the first scene that we shoot where he's wearing a full suit, he's like, 'Can you take a picture? It’s for my grandson.'" Muschietti went on to share a touching story about one of Keaton's first days on set, seeing the practical set for the Batcave for the first time saying Keaton just took some time to marvel at it. According to the director, it was "very emotional, because he's a very cool guy."

The Flash is out in theaters on June 16. In the meantime, you can watch the trailer for the next DC superhero movie down below.