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Last month in an interview with Empire Magazine, Christian Bale admitted that he wanted to play Batman again, and that he was a little jealous of Ben Affleck. ShortList Magazine asked Michael Keaton if he felt that way as well, and his response was absolutely perfect.
Finally, Christian Bale recently said he felt jealous to see Ben Affleck wearing the cape and cowl -- do you ever get that?
"No. Do you know why? Because I'm Batman. I'm very secure in that."
SOURCE: ShortList Magazine
This is an archive of Batman-News.com from 2010 to 2025. For the latest news, check out BatmanNews.com
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I can not promise you this.
Perfect response
Get rekt
It's incredible!
I think that the endig suggest the rebirth of keaton´s character. He "flies" again as person just the same as actor, and his daughter is there to see him doing it.
For me, being a latin american, that scene reminds me one genre of latin american literature called "realismo mágico" (magical realism). Its an amazing genre with García Márquez as his greatest exponent. This movie, for me, is the perfect mix between realismo mágico and a psychologic novel.
No. Do you know why?
Want to see my mask?
Superman: Stop, Bruce bruce bruce, stop.
Batman: I'm batman.
HA! Just like on HISHE.
It would be hilarious if the said "I AM BIRDMAN"
"I AM BIRDMAN"
Excellent ! That would be fun that one day, to see all the Bat-actors reunited.
MK: "i'm batman". CB: "i'm batman". VK: "i'm batman" GC: "hi freeze, i'm batman". all other batmen turns to each other in confusion...
LOL ! With Clooney's close friend aka Ben Affleck facepalming.
Aha, props!
He was never my Batman. I grew up with the Burton Batman films but he never convinced me. Bale did.
Same here
I like Burton's "batman" for nostalgic reasons. Hell, I even have a Hot Toys figure of it. But only hipsters like Keaton's "batman" more.
I don't understand is why these hipster trolls bash Nolan's Batman and say that the 89 BAtman is superior when it obviously is not. I mean, Batman doesn't kill, Bruce Wayne doesn't sleep upside down, Jack Napier didn't kill Bruce parents, Joker and Batman doesn't fight over a girl, there's nothing supernatural about Catwoman, and Penguin is not a grotesque sewer-dweller. There, all of that violate the soul of what these characters are supposed to be, why tpeople think it's better than Nolan's take is a mystery to me.
Some people just want to watch the world burn.
You should post "Batman shouldn't kill", not "doesn't." He has killed during his initial appearance.
It's as much an "elseworlds" as the Schoemacher, Nolan, & 60s series. It's no more or less.
One thing I really liked about Keaton's interpretation I wished Bale's interpretation would've used is the cerebral aspect. Scenes like when Bruce first meets Vicki, thinks about the Joker connection to his parents' death, sitting in the darken study when the Batsignal shines into the room, & watching Cobblepot emerge from the sewer all had a Bruce/Batman lost in thought & assessing the situation. It's exactly how I picture Batman acting; always assessing & aware of his surroundings.
I don't agree with it, but it was Burton's interpretation that started the garish look for Cobblepot...which Gotham seems to be continuing with.
my only take away from that is Copplepot
I'll post in 1 syllable words next time.
Well I don't see anything cerebral in that, but most of all that Burton cooked it up himself. Jack Napier did not kill Bruce's parents, Joe Chill did. And there was this cerebral and ironic part in Batman Begins where Falcone's girl kills Chill even before Bruce can get revenge on him by himself. He stares at the revolver for a few minutes and throws it off the dock after getting slapped by Rachel (not the best way to get realisation though ;))
I love the Bat-signal-through-the-study part you said, that sequence finds use in comics even today, starting from BTAS itself.
And Burton made his worst mistakes by putting a black guy (Billy Dee Williams) as Harvey Dent and portraying Penguin as a deformed pedophile sewer-dweller who remote controls penguins and bleeds black tar.
Actually, following Zero Hour, Chill didn't kill the Waynes either.
I look at the movies & cartoons as just interpretations of the character & mythos. None will ever match the source material, but that doesn't mean any other version is more correct then another. After 75years, there's a lot of changes.
Following Cycle of Violence New 52, its Joe Chill right now who's the murderer. But then again, no interpretation gets it 100% comic accurate, as you said.
They illustrate Batman being cerebral; less explanations & more problem solving. Have you never gotten lost in thought? I felt Keaton's Batman seemed to be 2 steps ahead of everyone. I didn't get that from Bale's Batman.
Does lacking those "assessment" scenes mean Keaton was a better Batman? No. It was just something that would've made Bale's even better.
No Bale did far far more forensic work. The only "problem solving" I got from Keaton was to watch Action News on the Batcomp with your glasses on whilst remembering your parents' murder and tossing a file to Vicky Vale.
Look... I don't want to get into a fight here. Both were great, better than Clooney. That's all.
I wasn't talking detective skills, I was referencing the mindset. Keaton always seemed to be processing situations, I didn't get that from Bale. It doesn't mean one is better then the other. I just felt Keaton seemed to be 2 steps ahead of everyone else & Bale seemed to be playing catch up at times.
It's just my opinion. And both versions needed more detective work. Did Bale's "ballistic tests" really offset Keaton's tests for Joker venom in products?
You must be referring to the instances when Joker tricks Batman about Dent and Rachel and how Bane lured him in. Yes, now I see your point.
Err.. one more thing, its Cobblepot. Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot.
Correct. Looks like my iPhone autocorrect needs an update.
I LOVE the Burton Films. Just like I LOVE the Nolan films. They BOTH had the same problem though even if it was mirror image: The Burton films were TOO fantastical, and didnt really follow the source material as evidenced by your list above. Everything was too over the top and kind of a twisted cartoon. The Nolan flicks were TOO realistic. There wasnt really ANY sign of the fantastical aside form a man jumping off of roofs and even THAT had to be changed from the source material so it would fit in the real world. which leads to the fact that Nolan didnt follow the source material iether. I mean, first, the joker. I LOVED the attitude of the character in Nolans film but at least the Burton film kept his origin instead of making him a guy who paints his face. Ra's (pronounced RAISH NOT RAZ) was just a guy who changed identities instead of bathing in a Lazarus pit. CATWOMAN: In Burtons movie, she looked like catwoman and even was called catwoman. BUT she was basically a rip off of The Crow. Nolans film, she had the right attitude and finesse of catwoman, but she didnt really look like catwoman and was NEVER even given that name. WHY? Because apparently a woman being inspired by Batman to dress as a cat and commit crimes wasnt realistic enough! Dont even get me started on BANE. The B & R version (though niether Burton or Nolan) was pretty much a hulk ape but at least they kept the Venom. Nolans version was an extremely smart and cunning tactician but they completely whipped away the fact that he was augmented by a drug that made him crazy strong. Instead, they explain his superiority over Bats strength as Bats being old and basically crippled. Like I said, Both are a great series of films and both Batmen were great, but NEITHER of them got it right. Batman doesnt live in some twisted, nightmarish cartoon and he doesnt live in the real world either. He lives somewhere in between. If you ask me, Arrow is closer to actual Batman than any of the Batman movies. Hes a real guy living in a realistic world where fantastic, out-of-the-ordinary things can happen.
There were fantastical aspects in Nolan's work- the memory cloth Batman used to glide from building to building in Batman Begins just looked like a straight-up scene from the comics. Also the sonic transponder which can summon an army of bats which finds use in the Arkham games and comics. Then you have Two-Face accurately portrayed, the way he was burnt to his cheekbones was simply fantastic and fantastical at the same time. In TDKR, one of the Batcomputers referenced Selina Kyle as "The Cat", which was how Catwoman was initially named in her debut comic. Nolan got the Arabic lineage of the Al Ghul family spot-on, if not for the immortality aspect.
You're grasping at straws. He made several valid points about each series and you just come on here making weak defenses of the Nolan series which had its problems just as he pointed out. It makes it look like you can't see reason and that you will just blindly and stubbornly defend the series no matter how ridiculous it sounds.
Hang gliding is not fantastical and was done in Batman Returns. One reference to Selina Kyle being a cat burglar does not equal her being known as Catwoman or dressing like a Cat. No one is disputing lineage of the Al Ghul family, although having a white irishman play an Arabic guy doesn't exactly get the Arabic lineage of a family spot-on.
The Nolan series had obvious problems that every Bat-fan can accept in an otherwise excellent movie series. To deny them with half hearted defenses just makes you look like a blind fanatic.
You make as much sense as Jack Black in Tropic Thunder.
Why the fuck do you stubbornly want us fans to "admit" the lack of overt fantasy in the Nolan trilogy as if it were some sort of a crime ?! You want more fantasy, watch Batman & Robin. You have Bane as the steroid beast, Ivy as the plant hybrid and Freeze as the accidental popsicle trying to freeze Gotham. And what do you get ? A pretty crap movie. So much for your "weak defenses", huh ?? Schumacher has used, what to say in your words, "strong offenses" of fantasy right ?! God, as if being utterly fantastical was written in some Gospel rule-book of Batman. It should be at least to some degree, science-fiction, as in the Arkham games or what Nolan did, not some silly fantasy or supernatural like what Burton did to Catwoman's origins.
And I see out of all my "weak defenses" you could only reply to one of them pertaining to being fantastical or nearly so. You don't have an explanation to the sonic transponder, the sonar, Scarecrow's toxin or Two-Face, all of which are within the right degree of science to science-fiction. What you described as "hang-gliding" is clearly not. "Hang-gliding" does not include passing current through a memory cloth to make it aerodynamic.
Selina was referred to as "The Cat" in almost all forms of press and police records. That's what Catwoman used to be called during her debut appearances in the comics. Calling her "Catwoman" does not make her look less like a cat burglar because she IS dressed up like a cat. How many times was Pfeiffer called "Catwoman" in Batman Returns ?! All I heard most of the time was "Selina" from Bruce and Shreck.
There are white Arabics, if you have such racial intolerance, then you have, I believe, trolled a lot of victims about Perry White and Floyd Lawton being played by blacks.
Looks like sinagpiptipayb was right. Pointing out the undeniable achievements of Nolan's work over the inadequacies of Burton does invite rogue hipsters.
I've always found Bane to be a better character without the venom. That's too obvious an Achilles heel.
Technically, Ledger/Nolan's falls in line with Joker's initial appearance then the 1989 movie. The whole "vat of chemicals" bit was added in the Silver Age.
There are three origins for the Joker I think, going by Killing Joke.
I'm not sure if there's a specific number; in Killing Joke, he stated "multiple choice."
In Arrow its pronounces as Raaz, in Under the Red Hood, its pronounced as Raish
That's maybe coz' Nyssa is a natural Arabic. And before Ra's knocks Oliver off the cliff, whatever he chants is based on an Islamic prayer, a YouTube channeller told me.
By the way, did you see the fight ?! It was awesome. The only thing left to show was probably Oliver holding his bleeding guts in one hand. Ra's literally slashed off his abdomen and delivered a karate chop to the neck. Then kicked him off the cliff.
But hey, CW gave us a Lazarus Pit poster for Oliver. Hope he won't turn irreparably insane. Just a mad rush of power.
Denny O'Neil pronounced it as Ras. He told me he researched the pronunciation of the character when he co-created him.
Not saying it's a lost in translation moment, but B:TAS was how he intended it to sound.
If I recall the interview his niece or some female relative was studying Arabic and provided the pronunciation. Could she have misunderstood the actual way to say his name? It's possible.
Denny could've been bullshiting us during the interview as well.
This is great, a real argument. Not the stupid hipster troll posts that I usually see here. Kudos to you Mark!
You know what, your arguments are valid but for me, Nolan changed superficial things. For example, Catwoman, she isn't called catwoman but she is basically an anti-hero cat burglar. I like to think of Nolan's Batman as something from the Year One period (Year One, Long Halloween, even The Man Who Laughs). That's why i really don't love DKR, as much as it closes Bruce Wayne's saga, for me it should have been the 5th movie. Haha. For me, Nolan understood and kept the essence of the characters better than Burton did.
I watched the first few episodes of Arrow, but haven't gotten around to following the series. I hear great things though, so I'm going to get to it soon.
Ummm actually its pronounced RAISH NOT RAZ. That is the way they pronounce it in the animated series. In Batman beyond Terry refers to him as Raz and Talia CORRECTS him saying that it is pronounced RAISH. It is even touched upon in the actual comics. I dont give a damn if he is Arab, English, or Australian. He is a FICTIONAL CHARACTER and RAISH is how the creators of said character pronounced his name and how the fans of said character KNOW his name to be pronounced. And yeah, ya know what? Maybe they shouldnt follow the source material to the letter, but they should at the very least get the characters and the world right.
WOW. I really have to say that I probably have never met anyone as arrogant as you to think that they actually know better than those who ACTUALLY CREATED a character. So, honestly, does Nolans junk juice actually taste THAT good or are you SERIOUSLY THAT fricken arrogant and into yourself? I mean, man, you must REALLY love the smell of your own farts!
Because the character was CREATED by somone OTHER than yourself. THEY decided to pronounce his name RAISH. The people who read these comics, watch the shows, and who are FANS of the character know him AS RAISH. For you AND Nolan to decide that his name should be pronounced any other way than it was intended, for what ever reason, is ARROGANCE and a slap in the face to not only those who created him, but to those who love the character! You act as if you know better than those who thought up the entire concept. a concept that has been around for decades! Let me put it to you like this: Take the name Mia. That name can either be pronounced MYA or MEA. Niether is wrong or right BUT, the PARENTS who named this child that, and the child growing up with the name, KNOW how it is MEANT to be pronounced as their name. For someone to come along and purposely mispronounce it because they think they know better than the parents is arrogant AND insulting. It would also be insulting to those who knew and cared about the child. Well, to writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, who CREATED him, Ra's is their child. THEY created him, THEY named him! To the fans, the character is someone they care about. It IS insulting and arrogant for some director to think that they know better about something that was created and loved LONG before he came along and its arrogant and insulting of you to tell them they are wrong in the pronunciation of the characters name.
Like I said, your an arrogant ass. Im actually sitting here defending my side of the argument with things that make actual sense and you have no recourse but to insult me. So, with that said, why dont you go take a big healthy dump and enjoy the smell of your shit that you obviously love so much that you cant stop spewing.
OH, I have NO doubt about that! Life is splendid for me right now. Thank you for the concern though and in kind, I sincerely hope that you find a cure for your condition.It IS treatable.
You have that hot toys figure? I'm not even that big a fan of the Burton movies, but you're a lucky bastard for getting that!
I agree about Burton not portraying characters very well. The first Batman feels like he only read The Killing Joke and doesn't really have a grasp on the characters outside of that story.
Batman did kill early on btw. Though at the the time of the Burton movies his no kill rule was established iirc.
Yeah, got it for a discount, though.
Yeah, Batman killed, but this was in 40s, I think. I doubt Burton knew that.
Catwoman and Penguin were psychos not criminals
Yeah but also Joker doesn't wear make-up, Bane is supposed to be on venom, Catwoman is actually called Catwoman, Rachel Dawes doesn't exist, Batman designs his own tech, and Two-Face doesn't get his face burned by oil and fire.
All of the movies change things. I don't get why people like to call out the things Burton changed even though Nolan changed just as much.
See... All Nolan changed is superficial. Burton's "batman" changed the essence of the characters.
... and Batman doesn't kill. 'Nuff said.
No, Nolan's Batman just decides not to save you from a fiery train crash which results in your death and uses semantics to argue that he really didn't kill you, the fall did. Please point to me an instance in the comics where Batman literally looked someone in the face and basically said "Screw you, I'm not saving your life." and walked away.
Nolan's Batman choosing to let Ras die when he could have easily saved him is no different than Keaton's Batman killing someone. They just picked two very different methods of killing.
And please don't try to argue with me that what Nolan's Batman did is not killing. Talk to any modern ethicist or take any class on ethics and they will tell you that if your inaction results in someone else's death, and your action to save them would ot have resulted in harm to you then you have killed them. And then please don't try and counter that carrying Ras out could have killed Batman because they would be too heavy or some crap like that. We all know Batman had the skill to easily save Ras.
Bottom line, the Batman in the comics never would have strapped a bomb to a guys chest and he never would have looked a man in the face and flew away to let him die in a train crash.
I didn't take ethics, so I'm going with common sense here. Killing and letting die is different. Equivalence thesis is A moral philosophy, not THE moral philosophy. As anything in philosophy, there are arguments against it, I believe.
Ok, your turn. Point out where in the comics does Batman sleep upside down, Catwoman is an Eric Draven ripoff (as someone pointed out), Penguin is a sewer freak, Gordon a bumbling idiot, and Joker kills Bruce Wayne's parents.
"Only hipsters like Keaton's batman." Get the f^ck off your high horse man.
I think he meant it as only hipsters prefer Keaton's batman. And that's probably true
See... no real argument. Just stupid comments like this.
I grew up with the Schumacher and Nolan movies and I can safely say that Keaton is my favorite on screen Batman. I've never been a fan of the movies (more of his animated appearances) because Shumacher's was too campy and Nolan's was too "realistic." I only watched the 1989 movie 3 years ago and I found that Keaton's silent Bruce/Batman to be my personal favorite.
Batman '89 was my first introduction to the character and I loved it. But B:TAS was what defined the character for me on screen. Still does.
I grew up with Burtons take on it also, and I think its easy in hindsight to say 'nah, wasn't the true Batman', which I respect. But when the movie hit, and i sat there in the cinema, by fook it rocked me to the core. No more pansy Reeves Superman, or if you can recall dodgy Spiderman TV series that ran for a while. This was the shit man.
And yeah, Bales version hinted at a more rounded character than Keatons who really was only a good Wayne ... but I think we've yet to see the true Batman as we know it. By that I mean, intelligent, completely flexible in his suit to kick seven shades of shit out of villians etc etc. Will Affleck be that guy? fuck knows but he does have some hard folk to follow in terms of character development.
He's not my favorite Batman, though I like him as an actor, but this is priceless. Really got a good laugh out of it.
Please.
Adam West owns all these bitches.
I wonder if Val Kilmer is jealous.
must be; i mean, that belly he sports is all ice cream and cookies....
Batman '89 is still the gold standard for Batman films. And Keaton's portrayal is the best to date. Obsessive, driven, just slightly unbalanced, brilliant, etc., etc. All the things Batman is and Nolan/Bale's Kabubi-Man wasn't.
From the new book, "Things I Overheard In An Insane Asylum: A Memoir" by Dr. Weezil.
Go infest a tree you weevil.
George Clooney is a green eyed monster as well
Oh yeah, I gotta remember to see that Birdman movie.
Why do they look like Wolverines ??
you mean why wolverine looks like them?
"To conquer Wolverines you must become Wolverines"
I think every guy who played the character has the right to say, "I'm Batman", whether its Adam West or George Clooney, Christian Bale or Ben Affleck. And Kevin Conroy.
And Val Kilmer
And Michael Keaton. I still think Val Kilmer is quite an underrated Batman.
love this answer
they should ask jack nicholson if he felt jealous when he didn't get called to reprise his joker role; that is if they want to get a golf club up their asses...
Well. Your loss. Keaton is terrific and the movie will be classic.
Use the money you would have spent on your next pizza and see it in a movie theater. Don't rob yourself of the movie going experience.
Bet yer Dad knows who Michael Keaton is. Maybe, yous guys could go together? Let him pay.
There is no way that movie warrents a theater experience. Equally enjoyable on a laptop or phone .
Oh my god you are 12, clearly. A phone nor laptop cant beat a regular tv, with any movie, but they beat a theater?? No. Just, no. Your a fool. Enjoy going blind at 25.
Yes Sir!
And I am sure that Affleck IS NOT Batman.
You were talking to KGBeast, someone who has great hatred for Batman.
Haha! Correct.
He was a darn good Batman. The scripts for his movies did need work though.
Triple OG Batman.
You tell em. Bruce.
I just read what Alejandro said about the superhero genre... its very bitter and cringeworthy.
Maybe you can bootleg it friend, still enjoy the film without buying the hack's tickets.
Yeah but if that's the kind of mindset it takes for him to make the kind of films he makes then it's working because he makes quality films.
In the end, WE win because we are getting great superhero and indie/artsy films at our disposable to choose from. So what if he doesn't like Superhero films, I'd be like "Alejandro....
Watch Birdman, it's superhero-isn anyway and I think the context of what he said will change a lot or little of your perspective of him. Name one artist that has never said something left-field in the public eye before? It happens all the time and then it's forgotten. Do you work in the film industry that this affects you personally to begin with?? It comes with the territory sometimes, how eccentric movie stars, musicians or art people can be. "Oh boo hoo, he says superhero films are a "disease" therefore I am not going to pay to watch his films.. whaaa, whaaaaa"
Maybe next year, Peter Jackson or Martin Scorsese will say something crazy too, but it'll be something that doesn't affect anyone directly like Alejandro's comment (ex: Mel Gibson). Who cares. moving on. those 15 minutes are gone.
Oh don't give me the " why does my opinion bothers you" cop out. It's more that you're being a pussy about this whole thing that makes me laugh and get my eyes rolling lmao. It's comic books man, wake up! I'm not saying he's right, but who gives a shit. You went out of you're way to be say on a forum "I am going to illegally stream Birdman because director AGI offended me about my (sniff sniff) comic book movies" LOL!
OK, for the record , if you're a minor, please don't respond anymore. This was amusing while it lasted. Back to work. Do what you want kid. Moving on. First world problems, I tell ya lol
wow that came off prissy as fuck lol (awww) and still thinks I can't see the circumlocution in his response, of course. Good for you son, I'm happy for you.
Now go get your shine box
Uh no, you are the troll judging by the entire thread and its responses from others and for everyone here to see. So now you know, troll.
#nicecomeback
Yeah you see, at this point you're just cornered into denial. "It's not me, it's you people". You didn't think of your perspective all the way through and absently didn't expect anyone to point out the imbalances of your logic. And this all stemmed down from you. If anything you're the one coming off as THEE elitist, and I am just laughing at your dumbass because you still don't see it. You used "lol" on the last comment, like your expressing this "levelminded-ness", (face palm) no trust me, the real "lol" is on you. But that's OK. Keep it. Walk away. Dude, you're done "lol"
You're done. Done
"At our disposable..."
ah yes, "disposal". Eagle eye, sir. Eagle eye. Oui oui, Monsieur Pepin.
Noted, noted.... :)
He is still my fav, its because of him that i started my fascination with the Batman character.
His silent approach to the character should be taken in consideration on how Ben's act. Imagine a Batman who's silent for most of the movie and when he does it's either a few bold words and at the end he has one amazing Frank Miller-esque monologue.
I agree with your opinion, this must be done.
This has been done to great effect on the you tube video "Batman City Of Scars". Look it up and watch. This guy does a great Batman!
So that twitter account I mentioned a couple of days ago (@LevanLinwood) now mentions Metallo.
Although the twitter account its retweeting is newly created.
Now I don't know what to think.
I need to see it too, big fan of Innarritu's work since I watched Amores Perros.
This is an archive of Batman-News.com from 2010 to 2025. For the latest news, check out BatmanNews.com
