George Clooney’s Batman Returns!!!
Let’s begin with what’s arguably the largest shock of all the film: the return of George Clooney as Batman — or not less than his suave Bruce Wayne from the a lot maligned (however barely extra fondly remembered now) Batman & Robin. It’s lengthy been argued (including by this very site) that Clooney was a really ill-fit for the cape and cowl on the time, particularly in Joel Schumacher’s tackle the character, which required a number one man snug with gags and slapstick, one thing the long run Hollywood icon was not identified for in ’97. However he’s good for The Flash‘s ultimate and best possible punchline.
“Who the fuck are you?” a shocked Barry asks when it’s Clooney that meets him outdoors of the courthouse as a substitute of the DCEU Bruce performed by Ben Affleck. Clooney’s straight-faced retort simply earlier than the display cuts to black — “Barry, what’s mistaken with you?” — is pure gold. At the very least, on this Bruce’s thoughts, Clooney by no means left!
Darkish Flash and Flashpoint
A lot of the film’s setup — Barry racing to the previous to stop his mom’s homicide and his father’s imprisonment — is closely influenced by the DC comedian Flashpoint by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert. Like within the movie, Barry’s actions prior to now have grave penalties for the way forward for the DC timeline, however they’re so vastly completely different within the comedian that it will take all day to elucidate all of the timey-wimey variations. That mentioned, like within the film, Barry’s actions very explicitly change Batman.
On a regular basis touring within the film by each Barrys additionally ends in the creation of the Darkish Flash, a future model of the youthful Barry (we all know that is complicated) who tried to save lots of Batman and Supergirl throughout their battle with Normal Zod so many instances that he was reworked into an insane monster. Whereas this model of Darkish Flash is technically an authentic character created for this film, he’s clearly meant to nod to the hero’s lengthy historical past of anti-Flash rivals, akin to Reverse-Flash, Zoom, Black Flash, Savitar, Godspeed, and sure, an unrelated Darkish Flash from the comics.
Michael Keaton’s Batsuit Historical past
The Flash will get completely nuts in relation to filling within the blanks for Michael Keaton’s Batman. So much has occurred since we final noticed this model of the Darkish Knight in Batman Returns over 30 years in the past. For one factor, this Batman apparently succeeded in making Gotham Metropolis one of many most secure locations on the planet, that means a retired Bruce can sit again in his decaying mansion, get drunk, take heed to previous information, and make pasta. However thanks to 1 particular scene within the movie, we additionally know a lot extra occurred in between.
When Keaton lastly decides to assist the Barrys discover Superman and cease Zod, he heads to his secret vault of Batsuits, giving us our first take a look at a menagerie of costumes we by no means noticed within the Tim Burton motion pictures. Displayed within the vault are an underwater swimsuit, a blue and grey swimsuit meant to nod to the Bronze Age comics, a Knightmare-like getup with goggles, the broken swimsuit from the 1989 film, and what seems to be like a prototype costume akin to the character’s Golden Age, full with holsters for his grapple weapons. We surmise the latter might even nod to this Batman’s personal origin, which we by no means noticed on display regardless of Keaton’s own wishes.
