![]() Burton's vision would also influence the character designs of Bruce Timm the Penguin possessed flipper-esque hands and Catwoman was blonde like Michelle Pfieffer. Produced in the wake of Batman Returns, Batman: The Animated Series would utilize the same dark aesthetic in constructing its vision of Gotham City. ![]() Chief among them was Batman: The Animated Series. It's a take that many filmgoers as well as Batman fans shared despite Forever being a commercial success Batman and Robin was critically panned and was even heralded as "the death of the superhero movie" until Christopher Nolan gave the Bat-franchise a shot at fresh blood with Batman Begins.ĭespite having only two films to his name, Keaton's Batman performance would end up having a massive impact on the Batman mythos. This was in direct opposition to Keaton's feelings that Batman and Bruce Wayne were two distinct people, but it's very clear that both of them had issues with Schumacher's take on the Caped Crusader. There is no Batman," he said while talking about the Buffets' set visit. "That’s why it’s so easy to have five or six Batmans. Add in a visit from Warren Buffett's family, who were more interested in touring the set than Kilmer himself, as well as conflict with Schumacher, and the seeds were sown for Kilmer to hang up Batman's cape.īut the biggest irony is that Kilmer felt that he wasn't special. A large part of this had to do with feeling underappreciated most of the draw of Forever came from the over-the-top performances of Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Jim Carrey as the Riddler. In an ironic twist that the Joker would probably appreciate, Val Kilmer himself ended up departing the role of Batman. Even though this is a surprisingly faithful homage to the Silver Age of Batman comics, it's not hard to see what drove Keaton away. This conflicts with the aesthetic Schumacher brings to Forever, as Gotham is now a neon-colored carnival ride of a city, and most of the dialogue is filled with shockingly on-the-nose puns. In fact, a key story thread throughout Forever has Bruce questioning if he can continue his dual life, especially when orphan Dick Grayson ( Chris O'Donnell) and psychiatrist Chase Meridian ( Nicole Kidman) come into his orbit. But he also struggles with psychological issues. Val Kilmer's Batman was possessed of a dry wit his very first line in Forever is "I'll get drive-thru" when his loyal butler Alfred ( Michael Gough) asks him if he's going to eat anything. Schumacher veered in the opposite direction with Batman Forever and its follow-up Batman and Robin. That same sense of darkness extended to Gotham City itself it was a neo-Gothic nightmare, wrapped in shadows and populated with monstrous criminals like Jack Nicholson's Joker and Danny DeVito's Penguin. In Burton's films, Bruce Wayne was portrayed as a psychologically tortured recluse - he hung upside down while sleeping, and spent his nights brooding in the Batcave. Though Michael Keaton said that he didn't wish Joel Schumacher any ill will, it's not hard to see where their visions for the characters diverged.
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