Michael Keaton – who’s starred as Batman as well as Vulture in the MCU – hasn’t seen a single Batman or Marvel movie.
Keaton first donned the cowl in 1989’s Batman, a watershed moment for superhero movies that served as an early testament to their pop culture power. He returned in 1992’s Batman Returns, but clashed with Joel Schumacher over the creative direction of Batman Forever, paving the way for the Val Kilmer recast.
While satirizing his own career with Birdman, Keaton returned to comic book films via Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, starring as Adrian Toomes, aka Vulture. While many thought he’d appear in No Way Home, Keaton ended up reprising the role in Morbius’ widely-mocked post-credits scene.
He’s one of the most iconic actors to play the caped crusader, and Vulture is generally considered one of the best villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Alas, he’s never watched one of his movies – or any other superhero movie, for that matter.
Michael Keaton hasn’t seen a single Batman or Marvel movie
Keaton will return as Batman once more in The Flash, the first solo outing for Ezra Miller’s speedster, with the original Dark Knight set to collide with Batfleck in a story inspired by Flashpoint.
In a new interview with Variety, Keaton revealed he’s never watched a DC or Marvel movie in its entirety.
“I know people don’t believe this, that I’ve never seen an entire version of any of those movies – any Marvel movie, any other,” he said.
“And I don’t say that I don’t watch that because I’m highbrow – trust me! It’s not that.
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“It’s just that there’s very little things I watch. I start watching something, and think it is great and I watch three episodes, but I have other sh*t to do!”
Michael Keaton says returning as Batman “seemed like fun”
Thirty years after Keaton abandoned the Batcave, he decided to come back for a simple reason: it “seemed like fun.”
“I was curious what it would be like after this many years. Not so much me doing it – obviously, some of that – but I was just curious about it, weirdly, socially,” he said.
“This whole thing is gigantic. They have their entirely own world. So, I like to look at it as an outsider, thinking ‘Holy moly!’
“The writing was actually really good. So I thought, why not? It’s cool to drop in and I’m curious to see if I can pull it off.”
The Flash is due for release on June 23, 2023.