It’s 1992 and you are Michael Keaton. You’ve just seen your last two projects as Batman change the super hero genre and to some extent, the concept of the summer blockbuster forever. But you are hanging up your cape as the character moves in a new direction with a new director.

You see multiple iterations of the character portrayed by numerous actors over the next 28 years, and any hope of The Dark Knight rising is a distant memory.

But then, out of nowhere, or at least that’s how it seems to fans, there is hope.

But the reality when you take a step back is that this is the most efficient way to explain the somewhat disjointed continuity of the DC Extended Universe.

Ever since the catastrophic fallout from 2017’s Justice League, the DCEU has been in turmoil. Lots of changes in executive leadership, actors leaving roles or at least in limbo, and lots of course corrections on character narratives have left the cinematic universe in a rather fragmented state.

But the important word here is universe. And it is this word, or more accurately the concept of multiple universe’s – a multiverse – which brings Michael Keaton back into the fold, whilst also bringing some level of unity back into the DCEU.

According to The Wraphttps://www.thewrap.com/batman-returns-michael-keaton-bruce-wayne-the-flash-movie/, Michael Keaton is in talks to return to the big screen as Batman or perhaps as Bruce Wayne. The distinction between the man and his alter-ego is important because it seems he will appear as a screen accurate version of the character he last played 28 years ago. In which case we will be witnessing the most ‘mature’ live action version of Batman on screen to date.

Which raises the question, will he suit up? Or will he act as a mentor figure to other youngest hero’s within the multiverse in a somewhat Nick Fury type role?

My guess is a bit of both. It would be too much of an opportunity missed not to have Keaton don the cape again, and whilst his version of the Batman will be older than we have seen before, Keaton himself has proved he has still got what it takes to star in comic book action movies after his appearance as Vulture in 2017’s Spider-Man Homecoming.

But more important than the Batman character itself, is what the introduction of Keaton’s Batman and the concept of the multiverse brings to the DCEU as a whole.

Script writers for Warner Brothers (rights owners of the DCEU) now have a story line that is not only comic book accurate but also ties together the currently disjointed universe.

The concept of the multiverse stems from 2011’s Flashpoint storyline which was introduced for much the same reason as we are seeing on screen – to explain multiple versions of the same character. Most recently, it has been used at the end of Justice League Dark: Apocalypse War to reset the universe and allow the writers to explore new story lines with the characters.

The multiverse is discovered as Barry Allen/The Flash goes back in time to save his mother, and so the screen version of the multiverse is going to debut in The Flash movie staring Ezra Miller which is set to start production in 2021. However, the multiverse has been teased and built up within the DC tv shows.

For the DCEU, it enables characters that until now have seemed like standalone projects such as 2019’s Joker, or the upcoming Batman project starring Robert Pattinson, to be integrated into the DCEU continuity should WB wanted to go in that direction.

Whatever direction they choose, it will be an interesting story to watch unfold over the next few years.

This is the first in what will hopefully be many blog posts. It is by coincidence that the first is based on comic book movies and whilst there will be more on that topic, this site will provide news and reviews across a much broader set of genres.