The Flash: Michael Keaton Says Putting Batman Cowl Back on was “Shockingly Normal”

It’s no secret that Michael Keaton will be back as Batman in the upcoming The Flash movie from Warner Bros. Pictures, reprising the part he last played some thirty years ago on the big screen. Though the first set photos from the shoot have only shown Keaton in regular clothes, some early concept art for the film showed him back in his full costume from the classic Tim Burton films. Speaking in a new interview with Good Day Chicago‘s Jake Hamilton, Keaton opened up about returning to the costume and how everything started to come back to him once he got over that hill.

“It was shockingly normal. It was weird,” Keaton said about putting on the Batman cowl once again. “Like I went ‘Oh, oh yeah, that’s right.’ But also then you start to play the scenes and a lot of memories, a lot of interesting sense memories (start to come back).” Keaton wouldn’t confirm if he’s said the iconic line “I’m Batman” yet while filming (a wise wager would be to bet on him saying it at some point though) and also said he’s yet to talk to Tim Burton about what he’s doign. “No, but just because we haven’t because we’ve got other stuff to talk about.”

Keaton’s Dark Knight won’t be the only version of Batman appearing in the film either with Ben Affleck once again reprising his version of the character as well. The actor was previously thought to have hung up the cape for good but reprised his part for an extra sequence of Zack Snyder’s Justice League and will appear once again in this film.

Photos of a Batman on set seem like they’re for the Affleck version, though the costume is different from the one he wore in Snyder’s two feature films. The character is also seen driving a new Bat-cycle that makes it a little more difficult to figure out which Batman it is under the cowl.

This upcoming The Flash movie will see Ezra Miller reprise his role as Barry Allen/The Flash, having first debuted in for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and reprised in Justice League. Kiersey Clemons will also return as Iris West, having been cut from the theatrical version of Justice League but restored for Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max. Sasha Calle was previously cast as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl while Ian Loh plays a young Barry Allen and Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Rudy Mancuso will both be playing currently unknown roles. Ron Livingston steps into the movie as Henry Allen.

The Flash is currently set for release on November 4, 2022.