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Here’s How Tim Burton’s Batman Improved Matt Reeves’ Movie


Bruce Wayne was not always the Robert Pattinson version we have come to know. Batman was not always the brooding superhero we see on our screens today. In fact, when Tim Burton’s 1989’s Batman was produced, most have associated it as a campy 1960s TV series. Little did we know, Tim Burton’s decision marked the future of Batman since then.

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In the Batman: The Animated Series documentary The Heart of Batman, franchise executive producer Michael Ulsan shares how Tim Burton had it right on the money when it came to shaping up the future of Batman in all his glory. Ulsan says these had been Tim Burton’s exact words, check out Burton’s full quote below:

“You know, Michael, in order to do this seriously, this movie is not going to be about Batman… No, this movie’s got to be about Bruce Wayne.”

Matt Reeves’ The Batman starring Robert Pattinson may have been deemed the ‘best’ Batman DC fans have seen, but it is thanks to Tim Burton’s first step that really marked the change for the Caped Crusader.

When Tim Burton had created his Batman after the 1966-1968 Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward (which featured a very campy tone thus Batman gaining the ‘campy’ and ‘unserious’ reputation), the director’s darker and more serious Dark Knight series has turned Bruce Wayne into a four-dimensional character as he was depicted to be the person behind the mask rather than just the hero.

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Granted that both Matt Reeves’ and Tim Burton’s have definitely contributed greatly to Batman’s history and characterization of a man suffering from his inner torments, both depictions managed to also have different sides of the Dark Knight’s story. With Michael Keaton realizing The Joker was the one who killed his parents and Robert Pattinson’s epiphany on realizing that his vengeance is doing more harm than good. Which version of Batman do you like better?

Meanwhile, Tim Burton’s Wednesday Season 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.

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