Kevin Smith Defends Michael Keaton Returning as Batman Again in Batgirl Movie

The recent announcement that Michael Keaton will reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the upcoming Batgirl movie has most of the internet pretty excited, but there are some vocal detractors. Chief among them are Zack Snyder/Snyderverse fans, who want to see more of Ben Affleck's take on Batman, and who believe Warner Bros. has chosen nostalgia over art in deciding to go with Keaton. Filmmaker and geek icon Kevin Smith begs to differ, though. Smith, a longtime friend of Affleck's, says he believes the star when he says he no longer has any interest in playing Batman, and praised the decision to go with an actor with a proven track record of success as the Dark Knight to replace him.

Affleck had been committed to write and direct a Batman movie, which fell apart for a variety of reasons, and eventually he decided to leave the role after Justice League. He, like Keaton, will return as Batman in the multiverse-hopping film adaptation of The Flash, but rumors have long held that by the end of the movie, Keaton would hang around in the shared DC Films universe and serve as a mentor figure to younger heroes like Batgirl. The casting notice seems to confirm those rumors.

"I'm a big fan of Michael Keaton as Batman," Smith said. "I was a big fan of Ben Affleck as Batman as well, but as we just saw recently in an interview, Ben was like 'I'm not going to do IP movies anymore.' So, Ben has made it clear for a number of years now that he's done playing Batman. Not that Warner Bros. is done with him; he's done with them. So they couldn't use Ben as the Batman for this new Batgirl movie, and at that point you're already doing Michael Keaton Batman in Flash...it seems to make sense. I assumed Michael Keaton was as beloved for every generation as he is to mine, but some folks on Twitter were very angry about that -- but angry at the wrong person. This ain't a case of Warner Bros. screwing the pooch or something. The person they would like to keep playing Batman just doesn't seem interested in playing Batman at all, and has made that very clear for a very hot minute. So in lieu of Ben, who else are you going to do? Bring on a brand-new Batman, start that? Obviously Matt Reeves is doing a very different-from-the-DCEU-movies version of Batman, so you can't get him. So it makes sense. If you need a veteran, an older guy, if you're going to do this Batman Beyond version of Batgirl, where she's kind of Terry McGinnis in training, and he's the grizzled old vet or something? I cosign it, because that was my Batman, that was our Batman. I mean, Adam West was my first Batman, but Michael Keaton was a wonderful Batman, and I think it's crazy seeing people on Twitter going after that decision."

You can see the full episode below, with Smith's comments about Batman at around 12 minutes. Spoiler alert for Hawkeye and Spider-Man: No Way Home, if you have somehow miraculously managed to remain unspoiled so far.

Leslie Grace is set to star as the titular red-haired heroine in the film with J.K. Simmons reprising his role of Commissioner Gordon for the new movie. Brendan Fraser is also confirmed to appear, reportedly playing the Batman villain Firefly. Actor Jacob Scipio, who previously worked with directors Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah on Bad Boys For Life, is also listed on the cast list.

The Batgirl script is written by Christina Hodson, whose work includes Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and the upcoming The Flash movie. 

"She's someone who's been underestimated by even her own dad and being the youngest kid, sometimes you're insulated from all of the tough stuff of life and she's so eager to prove to herself and to everybody else that there's some things that she can handle," Grace said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight earlier this year.  . "So, this journey is definitely going to show me a lot of that. I feel like I'm on an endless journey of proving to myself what barriers I can break, what limits I can break for myself and I'm excited to put a little bit of that eagerness and drive and, like, almost a bit of stubbornness into Barbara's character."  

Batgirl is expected to debut on HBO Max in late 2022 or early 2023.