Tim Burton’s Batman Gets Even Better in This 1940’s Style Trailer

Depending on who you ask, Tim Burton‘s Batman is regarded as the best live-action portrayal of the Caped Crusader. While the film brings quite a lot of 1980s flair, a new fan-made trailer recontextualizes the film in a whole new way. YouTuber Journey’s End recently shared a “Trailer Time Warp” video, which imagines the 1989 Batman in the style of a 1940s serial. You can check it out above.

The end result is surprisingly cool, particularly in the incredibly-stylized introductions of both Batman (Michael Keaton) and the Joker (Jack Nicholson).

While the 1980s take on the Dark Knight might have been initially met with apprehension, the film is regarded to be a true classic, largely thanks to Keaton’s time as the titular character. Keaton and Burton went on to further evolve the character in Batman Returns, but both didn’t return to the franchise for some very specific reasons.

“I think I upset McDonalds.” Burton said of not returning for a third film in a 2014 interview. “[They asked] ‘What’s that black stuff coming out of the Penguin’s mouth. We can’t sell Happy Meals with that!”

“I think the studio just thought it was too weird — they wanted to go with something more child- or family- friendly,” Burton further revealed. “In other words, they didn’t want me to do another one.”

“[The third film] just wasn’t any good, man. I tried to be patient, but after a certain point, I was like, ‘I can’t take this any more, this is going to be horrible,’” Keaton explained in a 2017 interview. “There was some really horrible taste in the ’90s, and I probably contributed to that, unfortunately. It was a time of nouveau riche excess – everyone was known for their jets and their stuff. And I thought, I’m in this job for the long run, I don’t want this. And the truth is, I’m not boasting, but I was correct. There are a whole load of people who ran things that are long gone.”

What do you think of this 1940s take on Batman? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!