I absolutely hate when people start articles about Batman with the old “Holy ______, Batman!” cliché. However, in this case I will make an exception, because this news is potentially that big and that surprising:

“Holy reboot, Batman!”

According to The Hollywood Reporter’s “sources,” Michael Keaton is “in talks” with Warner Bros. to return to his most famous role, as the Batman from two of the biggest blockbusters of the 1990s, in the upcoming adaptation of DC Comics’ The Flash. The movie will star Ezra Miller as the Fastest Man Alive, reprising his role from Justice League. It and It: Chapter Two filmmaker Andy Muschietti will direct the film.

But that is potentially the tip of the Bat-iceberg. (Look, if I get one post to use Batman clichés, I’m using all of them.) THR says that “the role being envisioned for the veteran actor is akin to the role played by Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something of a mentor or guide or even string puller,” and that Keaton could also potentially appear in the Batgirl that Warner Bros. also has in development.

That would be an interesting use of Keaton, who turns 69 in September and hasn’t played Batman since 1992’s Batman Returns. In DC Comics, the Flash can use his super-speed to hop between alternate Earths, so he could easily jump to another Earth where Batman is a grumpy old man akin to the guy seen in Frank Miller’s famous comic book series The Dark Knight Returns. There have been rumors that The Flash will adapt the comic book series Flashpoint, where a time-traveling villain altered the history of the DC Universe, which results in a strange, dark world where only the Flash remembers the way things used to be and the Batman is actually Thomas Wayne, Bruce Wayne’s father. That could also be a role that work for an older actor like Keaton.

Whatever way they reintroduce him, the chance to see Keaton back in the cape and cowl would be a huge hook for a Flash movie, and would easily make it amongst the most anticipated DC superhero movies of the last decade.

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