The Flash Finally Answers a Decades-Old Batman Question

The end of The Flash raises as many questions about the future of DC’s multiverse as it answers, with a new status quo set up for Batman — but one that will almost certainly never be followed up on, as Andy Muschietti instead focuses on Batman: Brave and the Bold, featuring an all-new actor as the Dark Knight and introducing Damian Wayne. The status of Supergirl, Barry Allen, and the DC Universe more generally are also somewhat up in the air, especially after a disappointing opening weekend that likely suggests this is the last we’ve seen of Ezra Miller’s Flash.

Spoilers ahead for The Flash, in theaters now. Feel free to turn back at this point.

One question that does — at least seemingly — get an answer is an old one: was the Tim Burton Batman meant to be the same guy as the Joel Schumacher Batman? Per the end of The Flash, it appears as though the answer is no, because it takes a major seismic event to alter the timeline from Michael Keaton to George Clooney.

Let’s back up.

Following the massive success of Batman in 1989, the franchise had four films before it stalled out and was soon thereafter rebooted…but fans have long debated whether Batman Forever (in which Batman was played by Val Kilmer) and Batman & Robin (Clooney) are actually part of the same canon as Batman and Batman Returns. Michael Gough’s portrayal of Alfred and other token references to the Burton films seemed to suggest the answer is yes, but the huge differences in the world, the look and feel of Gotham (notably Harvey Dent, played by Billy Dee Williams in the 1989 film, would morph into Tommy Lee Jones by the time Batman Forever happened), and the tone of the movies, raised questions.

When Batman came out in 1989, Tim Burton rebelled against the camp and silliness that most non-comics audiences associated with the character as a result of the wildly popular 1966 Batman TV series (which, yes, also got some love in The Flash). Burton went darker still with Batman Returns, and when Warner Bros. wanted to try something else for the third movie, Schumacher presented a pair of neon-technicolor films, saturated with camp and bringing the spirit of the ’60s show to the big screen.

Kilmer did not appear in The Flash, but did recently poke fun at his time as Batman in Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, where he played a dark and gritty version of Bluntman, a stoner superhero alter ego to Silent Bob. Clooney, for his part, more or less took the blame for Batman & Robin‘s failure, apologizing for the movie and joking that he, writer Akiva Goldsmith, and director Joel Schumacher are all talented guys with a lot of good work in their career…but that movie doesn’t make the list.

In The Flash, Barry goes back in time and accidentally creates an alternate present, with Ben Affleck’s Batman replaced by Michael Keaton’s, and no Superman anywhere in sight. When General Zod comes to terraform the planet, there’s no Kal-El to stop him, and as a result Barry has to recruit Batman and Supergirl (Sasha Calle) to do the job. After a brutal battle and a trip through the multiverse, Barry restores the original timeline…but with some residual changes left in place by his tampering. 

In the final moments of the film, Barry reaches out to Batman again. Thinking that he is about to meet up with Ben Affleck’s Batman, he is shocked to see George Clooney step out of the car.

This not only suggests that Clooney’s and Keaton’s realities are distinct (after all, it’s hard to say “Well, it’s a different movie, so he just looks different” when we just saw Keaton minutes ago), but teases the possibility that maybe the event that explains the changes to Batman’s world in between the Keaton and Schumacher films can be explained by Barry tampering with the timeline.

That’s probably a little too far. But seriously — this does seem to suggest that, within DC’s multiverse, the Keaton, Kilmer, and Clooney Batmen are different guys with similar pasts and a version of Alfred who is strikingly similar. That last part can happen from time to time; after all, how many different realities have featured J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson?

The Flash speeds is in theaters now, promising to reshape 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.