By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Pittsburgh native Michael Keaton will play Batman in a movie set to debut in 2022.
Brooks Barnes of the New York Times interviewed DC Films president Walter Hamada, and it was learned that the 69-year-old Keaton, as well as Ben Affleck, will both play Batman in the Warner Bros. film “The Flash.” The film will “link the two universes and feature two Batmans,” the NYT reports.
Barnes also took to Twitter to confirm the news.
“Based on your Hamada piece, some have interpreted that WB is doing 2 franchises starring Batman, one with Pattinson, one with a new actor. Is that correct, or you were referring to Keaton as a second Batman, being part of a non-Batman-centric saga? Thank you,” said Nestor Cine, the founder of Desde Hollywood, a bilingual movie news site.
“Keaton,” Barnes responded.
Keaton
— Brooks Barnes (@brooksbarnesNYT) January 2, 2021
Some fans later took that to mean that Keaton would be portraying the superhero in the new film and beyond. Barnes quickly shot down that rumor.
Been offline (moving apartments) and return to see this Michael Keaton craziness. I was referring to the *one film* that Keaton has been announced as being in, not a set of his own Batman films. If I had info on him beyond “The Flash,” I would have obviously put it in my article
— Brooks Barnes (@brooksbarnesNYT) January 5, 2021
Keaton made his debut as Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 “Batman” and the 1992 sequel “Batman Returns.”
In 2017, the acclaimed actor received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University.