DC has decided to give Batman fans around the world the best early Christmas imaginable, with reports stating that Michael Keaton will reprise his role as the Caped Crusader once more in the upcoming Batgirl superhero film.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, it's noted that Keaton will appear in the movie alongside Leslie Grace (In the Heights), who will star as the titular Barbara Gordon. Brendan Fraser has already signed on to star as the pyromaniac villain known as Firefly, while J.K. Simmons will reprise his role from Zack Snyder's Justice League as Commissioner Gordon.
Keaton has already been confirmed to be returning as Batman in the upcoming Ezra Miller Flash film, however, this news (if true) means that the actor can't get enough of being back in the suit for the first since 1992. Additionally, it means that 2022 is going to be a massive year for the Dark Knight with both Keaton and Robert Pattinson set to star as the detective on the big screen.
The first teaser trailer for The Flash with Michael Keaton's Batman was shown at DC FanDome 2021 in October this year.
While The Batman is easily my most anticipated film of 2022, bringing back Michael Keaton for the first time since Tim Burton's Batman Returns is truly going to be something special. This very well could take inspiration from Batman Beyond, just with Barbara Gordon (Batgirl Beyond?) replacing Terry McGinnis. You only have to look at the success (both from critics and fans) that Spider-Man: No Way Home has achieved, earning itself the second-biggest box office debut in cinema history (via Variety).
There's also the fact that Batgirl is being written by Christina Hodson, who penned the wonderfully zany Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey flick. Matt Reeves is clearly a talented writer – and every trailer for The Batman so far has been sublime – but we haven't seen the full capabilities of his work in the world of DC yet. Regardless, it's an extremely exciting time to be a fan of DC.
T3 has reached out to Warner Bros. for comment. The Flash is set to premiere in theatres on November 4th, 2022 while Batgirl is scheduled to be released on HBO Max sometime in 2022.
