Michael Keaton Credits Tim Burton for Paving the Way for Hollywood’s Superhero Era With Original ‘Batman’: “What That Spawned…There Are A Lot of People Making A Lot of Money Out There”
Batman himself, well one Batman at least, is making it quite clear; Hollywood studios that benefited from the superhero boom over the last two decades owe quite a bit to director Tim Burton.
During Burton’s reveal of his star on the Walk of Fame, the OG modern Batman Michael Keaton emphasized the director’s role in shaping the modern superhero movie landscape.
A Long Relationship That Didn’t Start With Batman
Keaton and Burton first joined forces on 1988 hit Beetlejuice. This led to Keaton’s controversial casting as the Caped Crusader in Batman. Reflecting on this, Keaton shared, “He hands me a script and goes, ‘Tell me what you think.’ This is after Beetlejuice. After that performance. After that type of movie. He says to the studio, ‘I want that guy.’”
The decision was met with widespread skepticism at the time, with fans sending around 50,000 letters to Warner Bros. voicing their disapproval. At the time, Keaton was known as a comedian, and fans weren’t sure if he could play a serious Batman. “The uproar…you would’ve thought we were being invaded. It was unbelievable. The press was going crazy. But he stood by me,” Keaton recalled, praising Burton’s unwavering support.
Keaton’s Batman
Keaton’s portrayal of Batman in Burton’s 1989 film and its 1992 sequel Batman Returns not only silenced the critics but also redefined what superhero movies could be. “What that [movie] spawned…there are a lot of people making a lot of money out there with their superhero movies because of his choice and his vision of what those movies could be, because he changed everything,” Keaton said, underscoring Burton’s revolutionary impact on the genre.
In an earlier interview with GQ, Keaton reflected on the backlash from his casting as Batman and the boldness of Burton’s choice. “The fact that Tim said ‘That guy, I want that guy’… The fact that people cared one way or another so much is still baffling. But that was a ballsy move on his part,” he noted.
Keaton went on to highlight the broader implications of Burton’s work, suggesting that without Burton’s pioneering efforts, the Marvel and DC cinematic universes as we know them might not exist. “I can’t necessarily say this, but there’s a strong possibility there is no Marvel Universe, there is no DC Universe, without Tim Burton. He was doubted and questioned,” Keaton added.
The Current State of the Superhero Genre
Though the last twenty-plus years – since the first Blade film kickstarted the genre’s current iteration – have been quite handsome success-wise for many studios, it seems to be hitting some fatigue. This has been quite notable with Marvel’s last phase which saw bombs such as The Marvels, The Eternals, and less than well-received TV entries such as She-Hulk.
But with that said, whether the ship has sailed for superhero films is now in doubt thanks to the performance of Deadpool and Wolverine. It might show that there’s still interest in the genre, or it might be a one-shot wonder.
Either way many will agree with Michael Keaton’s view of Tim Burton’s contribution to the genre.
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