The Flash Has A Deleted Scene Explaining Why Michael Keaton's Batman Quit
This post contains spoilers for "The Flash."
In Andy Muschietti's "The Flash," it's exceedingly clear that Warner Bros. wanted to tap into the nostalgia of a certain age group by including Michael Keaton's Batman in the ensemble. Whether that decision worked, or you found it to be a cynical ploy for eyeballs, or you fall somewhere in between, Keaton embraced the opportunity to return to a defining role for him, and audiences get to see plenty of his Batman onscreen here.
One thing viewers won't learn about, though — at least in the theatrical version — is exactly why Keaton's Bruce Wayne decided to hang up his cape and cowl and retire as Batman in his universe. But in a recent interview with IndieWire's Toolkit podcast, Muschietti explained he actually shot a scene that explains why Keaton's Bruce transitioned from the hero we last saw in 1992's "Batman Returns" into the long-haired, isolated guy who let Wayne Manor fall into utter disarray. Here's what he said:
"The insertion of the [Michael Keaton Bruce Wayne] story set up some questions, which is part of a big question that you ask yourself when you're approaching a movie like this. But it was a fun process. How much of [Tim Burton's movies] do we abide by? How much of the aesthetics, how much of the tone? I was very attracted to the idea of finding Bruce Wayne 30 years later and seeing him and basically fantasizing about what his life would have been 30 years later. The idea of, also, the reason why he quit being Batman was very important to me. There's a deleted scene, and you will see in the extras of the digital version of the DVD where that scene is there. We took it out for pacing reasons, but for me, it's very revealing and very important."
Muschietti may have lost this fight, but he won the war
Keeping that scene in the film sounds like a fight the director may have ended up losing against the studio. Since Muschietti went out of his way to talk about how "important" it was to him, we have to assume he would have kept it in if he had full control. Because Michael Keaton has such a significant role in the movie, would his character's inclusion have been more meaningful to audiences if we had the opportunity to learn more about why Bruce made that key decision? We'll be able to judge for ourselves when the movie hits home video and we can actually watch the scene in question.
"The Flash" had a disappointing opening weekend at the box office, which could be explained by a number of swirling factors. But Warner Bros. is clearly not blaming their director for the film's faults: Muschietti was recently hired to direct "Batman: The Brave and the Bold," which will be the first live-action Batman movie in James Gunn and Peter Safran's official reboot of the DC Universe, which kicks off with "Superman: Legacy" and will feature the same actors portraying DC's costumed heroes across film, TV, and video games. (Matt Reeves' "The Batman: Part II" is still on the way, but that will be an "Elseworlds"-style film that takes place in a separate timeline where Robert Pattinson is Batman, and it supposedly won't cross paths with the core DCU timeline.) Muschietti didn't get the opportunity to explore Keaton's Batman as deeply as he wanted in "The Flash," but as one of the architects of "The Brave and the Bold," he should have plenty of opportunities to explore The Dark Knight however he wants moving forward.
'Where does he get those wonderful toys?'
Elsewhere in the interview, Andy Muschietti talked about the evolution of Keaton's Bruce Wayne in "The Flash," answering questions some viewers might have had about why Batman's technology seems to have improved between now and the last time we saw this version of the character:
"The idea of transformation was important to me. I didn't want to find Bruce Wayne in the same spot where we left him 30 years ago. I wanted to create a bit of backstory where he kept being Batman for a few more years, hence the new gadgets and the technology that we see. You see that everything looks like the designs of the Tim Burton movies, but a little altered. His suit is slightly different, the Batwing is different — it's a three-seater now, and he has that rotating technology that was included. I just had fun exploring it."
So if you're a Burton Batman purist who was wondering why the suit looks slightly different upon Keaton's return, it turns out this didn't need to be a case taken on by the World's Greatest Detective: You can consider that particular mystery solved.
"The Flash" is in theaters now.