Tim Burton’s Batman: The Saga with Michael Keaton had a sequel… but only in comics!

yours Podcast by The Hollywood Reporter With us following the release of The Founder in December 2016, Michael Keaton spoke about his refusal to try again as Batman in Batman Forever, directed by Joel Schumacher. However, the latter requested it, as did Warner Bros., who had already pulled out their checkbook to re-cast the actor.

“bitter” called Keaton; The script I got and read was never good. I couldn’t understand why Joel Schumacher wanted to do that. And to add, quite briefly: “I knew there was a problem when he said, ‘Why does it have to be so dark?’

For reference, Michael Keaton was supposed to play Bruce Wayne/Batman in a Batgirl spin-off before Warners decided to never release the film, although it ended up happening. And if the actor did end up donning the suit in the latest The Flash movie, we can’t really say that fans took the bad luck with a good heart.

A comic to erase everything, or almost

It turns out that there is a Batman comic that is a true sequel to Batman, a challenge, and above all, that completely excludes the Joel Schumacher movie. was baptized Batman 89The script of this comic is written by Sam Hamm, who was one of the mainstays of Burton’s Batman and its sequels.

In fact, this comic continues to delve into the filmmaker’s gothic world, notably incorporating elements that would be included in his signature Batman 3rd opus, should it come to fruition. This 6-issue limited series, published between 2021 and 2022, was intended to “to move a certain number of threads left unresolved by the prolific director”.

And so we find that Harvey Dent, played by Billy Dee Williams in the 1989 film, has returned and completed his transformation from prosecutor and Batman ally to Two-Face. The Catwoman character played by Michelle Pfeiffer we last saw Batman Challenge Perched on the rooftops of Gotham, he also returns to play allies of circumstance while foiling Bruce Wayne’s designs.

Barbara Gordon’s character also appears: in this world, she is a sergeant in the Gotham police force assigned to Harvey Dent. It’s also an opportunity to introduce the character of Robin, in the form of an African-American character named Drake Winston.

Here’s what he looks like in the ’89 Batman comic…

Echo, of course, where, in the early 90s, Marlon Wayans was supposed to play Robin. He would be Paid $100,000 At that time you wear a costume in the scenes Batman Challengewhich will eventually be cut out during editing.