For years, there have been rumors that Warner Bros. was interested in making a Batman Beyond live-action movie. Fans, during all that time, have usually suggested using Michael Keaton — now old enough to plausibly play an older, injured Bruce Wayne — in the role, so that it could tie back to some of the most beloved comic book movies of all time, without having to get too nerdy about continuity. And according to Kevin Smith, it seems that might have actually happened…if The Flash had done better.
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That’s a thirdhand account, but according to Smith, it’s a revelation that came from the son of longtime Batman producer Michael Uslan, who has been connected to every big-screen outing featuring the Caped Crusader since 1989. Apparently, the bar was that for a Keaton return to be considered, the movie had to perform about as well as The Batman, though.
“I was hoping that it did better than it did because Michael Uslan’s kid said that…if the movie did as well as The Batman — The Batman opened at $130 million — one of the next Batman movies they’re going to make is Batman Beyond with Michael Keaton,” Smith said during a recent episode of Fatman Beyond (that quote is edited for clarity). “So I was like, ‘Oh, my God, now I hope this movie makes a lot of money.’”
You can see the full episode below. The talk about Batman Beyond starts at around 47 minutes.
Unfortunately, The Flash underperformed at the box office, opening at just $55 million domestically and garnering lukewarm reviews from critics and a B CinemaScore. The movie now feels like the last, dying gasp of the “DCEU,” especially since it spends so much of its runtime re-aligning the timeline to set the stage for the upcoming DC reboot under James Gunn and Peter Safran. The question now becomes what will happen with Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, both of which are set to hit theaters before the reboot happens.
The Flash raced into theaters on June 16th, reshaping the DC Multiverse with the help of familiar faces and brand-new heroes. Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) ventures to the past to change history, resulting in massive repercussions for the future. Forced to team up with another version of Barry, the mysterious Kryptonian known as Supergirl (Sasha Calle), and the iconic Batman (Michael Keaton), the Scarlet Speedster is forced to reckon with his mistakes and save a doomed reality. The Flash is directed by Andy Muschietti, written by Christina Hodson from a story by Joby Harold, and produced by Barbara Muschietti.
