Why A Michael Keaton Batman Beyond Movie Would Be a Big Win for DC

DC and Warner Bros have made some big announcements in 2020 – the biggest being Michael Keaton‘s return as Batman. The Flash movie will bring back Keaton’s Batman for its “Flashpoint” storyline, where Ezra Miller’s Flash alters the past creating dire, Back to the Future-type changes to the present. It’s been teased that Keaton will then expand into a larger DC Movie role, and one thing fans have wanted since hearing that news is for Keaton to star in a Batman Beyond movie. Well, making Batman Beyond is more than just a fan wish – it could be a big milestone win for DC!

During a recent episode of the ComicBook Nation podcast, hosts Kofi Outlaw, Janell Wheeler, and Matt Aguilar broke down why a Michael Keaton Batman Beyond movie has a chance to give DC’s movie franchise a giant leap over Marvel:

“The big thing is: What does this mean for the larger DCEU?…. is this our closest thing to getting us to a Batman Beyond movie?” Kofi asked. “Because, I mean, this pretty much sets the stage. I mean, it’s never been closer, right?”

Matt Aguilar was all about that idea: “I would love Keaton as old Bruce in that. I love Batman Beyond.”

Host Janell Wheeler was also onboard: “Oh! That’d be so cool.”

“That would be an easy teaser,” as Matt explained, with Kofi fleshing out the vision: “Ezra Miller’s Flash has to go back to his timeline but you still have Keaton’s Batman who’s gotta prepare for a crisis, so what does he do? He has to outsource Batmanning to a young man named Terry, that’d be awesome. People want this.”

Getting even deeper into the matter, Kofi pointed why Batman Beyond could actually be a major win for DC: Because they would be beating Marvel to a key place in movie franchise expansion: futuristic superhero tales:

“There are two things [DC] could beat Marvel to right now… the kind of multiverse Crisis – that whole thing that Marvel eventually does have to fix, but it’s gonna take like 12 years. DC can get it done now, the future characters, right? Marvel’s not really getting into these future characters yet. You don’t have like a Spider-Man 2099 movie or something like that. So you can do Batman Beyond and start to get that ball rolling and get the future stuff going.”

With DC going for wider variety and high-concept creative visions, Batman Beyond (one of the most stylized cartoons DC has ever created) is an easy win. Wouldn’t you agree?

You can listen to the full ComicBook Nation podcast discussion below. New episodes go up every Wed and Fri.