Will Michael Keaton’s Batman return after The Flash? Explained

The Flash brought Michael Keaton back as Batman after 31 years, and the fans absolutely adored him. Despite being 71 years old, his portrayal made people want to see more of him in future DC movies, but have we seen the last of him, or will he be back for more?

Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for The Flash.

Keaton's Batman continuously fought the Kryptonian army in the movie's final act. The two Barry Allens kept trying to change the outcome by going back in time, but they kept failing as it was a definite point in time.

So, the older Barry Allen decided to let his mom die and restore the timeline. While he didn’t fix things completely, he did enough to replace Keaton’s Batman with George Clooney. However, fans are still left wondering whether Keaton will get to return in the future.

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Michael Keaton’s Batman will not be returning

Michael Keaton’s Batman (Image via DC)

Originally, Michael Keaton was supposed to stick around and become the permanent Batman of the DCEU. He would have played a Nick Fury-like role in future DC movies, but all that has changed since James Gunn's and Peter Safran’s arrival.

Gunn plans to reboot the DC Universe and introduce an entirely new Batman into the mix. As a result, he had the original ending of the film reshot and brought George Clooney in for a quick gag. However, The Flash was shot back when Walter Hamada was the leader of DC Films.

Under Hamada’s leadership, The Flash would have mostly played out similarly, but Barry would have changed the positioning of those tomato cans to save his father, and he would have ended up meeting Keaton’s Batman instead of Clooney.

Both Keaton and Sasha Calle had been spotted outside the courtroom setup in an early batch of set photos that hit the internet during The Flash’s production. Keaton was seen wearing the same suit as Clooney. So clearly, his Batman and Calle's Supergirl were supposed to stay in the newly created timeline and would have returned in future DC movies.

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Every canceled movie that Michael Keaton’s Batman was almost a part of

Keaton in Batman Beyond concept art (Image via DC)

In the 1990s, Keaton was supposed to appear in Batman Forever. However, Tim Burton didn’t return to direct it, and Keaton also left the role, resulting in Joel Schumacher recasting Batman. If Walter Hamada's contract had been renewed recently, Keaton would have appeared in several DC movies back-to-back.

Firstly, we would have seen him in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, where he had a scene at the end with Arthur Curry. Secondly, he had a substantial role in the famously canceled Batgirl movie, which had already been shot.

Third, Warner Bros. was developing a Batman Beyond movie where Keaton was going to mentor Terry McGinning to become Batman. Four, he may have appeared in The Flash sequel as well. Lastly, Walter Hamada was planning a Crisis on Infinite Earths movie where Michael Keaton’s Batman would have met with Ben Affleck, but all those plans have been scrapped under James Gunn’s leadership.