With the news that Michael Keaton will be reprising his role as Batman in the upcoming Flash movie, fans across the Internet are agog with delight. The Flash film has been lingering in development hell for some time, and the news of another cast member has reignited excitement.
Michael Keaton last played Batman in 1992, starring in Batman Returns, his second and final outing as the caped crusader. Until now.
We already know how Ezra Miller's Flash, a decidedly 2000s superhero, would become intertwined with the grunge-era Batman. Yes, it's time travel.
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But this movie won't be the first time the two have crossed paths... literally speaking. In fact, Flash (not Ezra Miller's, that is) once bumped elbows with Keaton's Batman in the aforementioned Batman Returns.
Okay, strictly speaking, it's more of an Easter egg than a proper scene for the characters, but if you look closely you can see a man in a Hermes helmet walking behind Bruce Wayne at a fancy masquerade party. The helmet is worn by none other than The Flash.
Now it's worth pointing out that the iteration of Flash who wears the Hermes helmet is Jay Garrick. This version debuted in issue number one of 1940's Flash Comics, an anthology series.
Garrick got his own series in 1941 called All-Flash. He later made a cameo appearance in Flash #123, which established him as living on Earth-Two, a parallel universe to Earth-One, where Barry Allen lives.
Barry Allen is, you guessed it, Ezra Miller's Flash. But he's also the Arrowverse version of Flash. We know, it's confusing.
As we pointed out before, the CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths DC crossover brought Ezra Miller's Flash together with the TV version played by Grant Gustin. The TV show also confirmed Keaton's Bruce Wayne as canon in the opening of the first episode.
In doing so, the TV show proved that the Keaton films, Justice League, and Arrowverse were all connected at one point and can presumably connect again in the future.
With The Flash movie set to loosely follow the comics' Flashpoint storyline, we'll likely see Barry time travel to stop the murder of his parents. This creates a new timeline, which results in Batman becoming a sort of mentor figure (like DC's version of Nick Fury) in The Flash movie.
Miller's version of Barry Allen appeared briefly in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, and then more prominently in Justice League. The team-up movie was meant to lead directly into three solo films: The Flash, Aquaman and Shazam!.
As of 2020, we've only seen Aquaman and Shazam! on the big screen. But The Flash producer Barbara Muschietti assured fans the solo Flash film was on its way and a script is in the works from Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson.
The Batman has a release date of October 1, 2021. The Flash airs on Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW in the US. Sky One and NOW TV air the show in the UK.
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Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance film critic and journalist, with a focus on J-drama & film, and the Japanese production industry. She was previously Locations Editor at Screen International and Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. Her writing can also befound in Curzon, 1883, and more. A born and raised New Yorker, she loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.
