With at least four versions of Batman heading to the big screen in the next few years, a Battle for the Cowl is heating up. The unlikely return of Michel Keaton’s original blockbuster Batman in The Flash has given critics of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy a chance to pit the two most successful screen Batmen against each other.
It’s Keaton versus Bale for one Reddit user.
Beta Bale is the latest superhero spin on the Beta Male versus Sigma Male meme. If Keaton’s Batman is the popular, successful, independent Lone Bat working outside the orthodoxy, Bale’s version barely registers.
Nolan took a firm stance on Batman hitting a hard stop, albeit with a trademark touch of ambiguity. His trilogy paid off with a $2.4 billion haul and popular and critical acclaim. But there’s no beating around the Batcave — Christian Bale’s Batman broke much of what we were used to about Batman. While the trilogy picked up elements of classic comic stories like Dark Knight Returns, No Man’s Land, and Knightfall, Bale’s Batman had a short career that ended with a long retirement tour of Europe with Catwoman. Yes, Batman had just overcome a broken back to save Gotham from a neutron bomb, but happily retiring Batman is too much for some.
Keaton’s Batman is regarded as one of the all-time greats, but luck has played a big part in his longevity. In the early 1990s, the craze for blockbuster trilogies hadn’t even kicked in when Keaton stepped away from the cowl after Tim Burton’s deliciously dark Batman Returns scared Warner Bros. Just like the comics, accidents, events, and changes of creative teams have kept this Batman in the limelight, but right now, the Batman actors have to take the heat.
The Flash is set to confirm that Michael Keaton’s Batman has fought on into his 70s, which for many is real Batman. We’re yet to see what terrors have befallen his Gotham since he defeated the Penguin, but it doesn’t look like a restaurant in Florence was on the menu.
Naturally, the conversation quickly turned to the bad luck that riddled Bale’s short time in the cowl.
As Bale’s Batman was inarguably put through the wringer in the trilogy, fans were quick to defend his Bruce Wayne retiring when he had the chance.
After all, Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle was apparently happy to spend her days with Bale’s Bruce Wayne, while Michelle Pfeiffer’s feline villain gave Keaton’s Batman the slip at the end of Batman Returns. For some fans, ending Batman’s time in the cowl reinforced the realism of the Nolan trilogy.
The debate shows we’re lucky we can choose from so many eras of Batman. He is one of comics, if not fiction’s most flexible characters.
Keaton’s unlikely return means Bale’s return as the Caped Crusader isn’t impossible, and casting for the new DCU will keep the conversation running. Expect the Battle for the Cowl to keep raging beyond Flashpoint.