Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star Michael Keaton admits he "never understood" what the big fuss was all about surrounding his casting in Tim Burton's Batman, a film that would later become a cult classic and cement Keaton as one of the all-time greats to ever don the cape and cowl.
Michael Keaton Recalls Batman Fans' Divisive Reactions Over His Casting
Comic book fans are all about plain accuracy when it comes to finding which actor would best fit the heroes once they paint them on the big screens.
This explains why in the late 1980s, Michael Keaton's casting as the Dark Knight hero in Batman received backlash, despite ending up being a hit before Batman Returns got greenlit in 1992.
At the Hollywood Walk of Fame this weekend, Keaton couldn't help but recall the divisive reception to his DC flick: "I'll never understand [this] why anyone cared."
"The uproar... you would've thought we were being invaded. It was unbelievable," the Academy Award-winning actor detailed.
He then added how the Batman film director Tim Burton practically saved his casting, "The press was going crazy. But he stood by me. The guts it took to stand by that decision will always be appreciated by me."
Keaton mentioned how Tim Burton essentially picked him to play the Dark Knight hero, "He hands me a script and goes, 'Tell me what you think,'" and even after having just performed as Beetlejuice, Burton told the studio, "'I want that guy'" to be Batman.
He even got the chance to reprise his role in a crucial time for Barry Allen's multiverse traveling and helped him return to his proper timeline despite his retirement in the previous DCU canon.
Overall, Keaton couldn't be happier that Burton "changed everything" about superhero movies. If it hadn't for the classic Batman helmer, there wouldn't be a Marvel or DC Universe existing in today's times, he believed.
However, as enthusiastic as Keaton is for the chance to return for his iconic role, Burton recently declined the idea of helming a threequel for the Dark Knight.
While Burton is a "would never say never to anything" kind of guy, a Batman 3 is "not something I'd be interested in" at the moment. Perhaps given that the new DCU is still being built and would have to wait until then to conjure up ideas for it.
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