The Flash: Is Michael Keaton’s return setting up a Batman Beyond movie in the DCEU?

Holy Batman Beyond! Michael Keaton’s return opens up the possibility for Terry McGinnis to take the mantle in a live-action Batman Beyond.

Fans of DC can’t help but to get hyped after set photos of Andy Muschietti’s The Flash hit social media. We got our first look at Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) and Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) on the courthouse steps. And if you squinted, you could see Barry wearing the Flash ring, maybe. We also got our first look at Sasha Calle as Supergirl, setting the comic book world ablaze as she debuted her new suit (though we all still have no clue what role she’ll play). For Batman fans, however, it all took a backseat to the return of Michael Keaton.

For the first time in almost 30 years, Keaton will be reclaiming his mantle as the billionaire vigilante and we recently got our first look at him back in the role. Moreover, a new image of Keaton’s Bruce Wayne behind the wheel of a Mercedes surfaced on Twitter as well.

Keaton is one of two Bruce Waynes that will appear in the movie. The other, of course, being Ben Affleck. The latter is stepping down, while Keaton is reclaiming the mantle. However, most don’t expect Keaton to replace Affleck as Batman on a full-time basis. He’s almost 70-years old and it’s clear Warner Bros. are pivoting away from featuring the Dark Knight in a huge capacity going forward. With that in mind, what better time to produce a live-action Batman Beyond than now?

For starters, DC Comics is knee deep in reviving Batman Beyond with a brand new comic Batman is Dead, Long Live Batman. Which should give them some fresh fans of the cult classic hero. Anyone who’s familiar with the classic animated series knows the premise is perfect for Michael Keaton’s Batman and that the first movie would essentially write itself. It’s the story of an old Samurai facing the reality that he can’t do it anymore, so he passes down his weapon, begrudgingly, to a new warrior.

Batman Beyond’s story could fit into the DCEU perfectly

Following the foundation set by the animated series, we would need to see Keaton suit up as Gotham’s Dark Knight one more time if the DCEU were to adapt the story – but with a twist. No longer would he don the cape. Instead, he would be wearing a tech-enhanced suit fit for an older man trying to save his city. Just like the series, we would see him saving someone but struggling to do so as his advanced age would show.

During the battle in Batman Beyond, the aged hero suffers a mild heart attack. In an act of desperation, to save himself, and the girl he’s rescuing, he breaks a lifelong oath. He picks up a gun, ready to kill if necessary. Ashamed and emotionally defeated, Bruce vows never again.

Fast forward 20-years to Neo-Gotham with high rises and a cyberpunk feel, all the Bat-family and their enemies have either retired or passed. Bruce is now a bitter old man living in Wayne Manor, with his dog Ace as his only companion.

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Meanwhile, an athletic, cocky, troubled teen with a good heart, Terry McGinnis enters the picture. While on a date, Terry gets into it with a gang, the Jokerz. A motorcycle chase ensues leading to Wayne Manor. Bruce helps him fight off the gang. While trapped in Wayne Manor, he accidentally stumbles upon the Batcave. Bruce kicks Terry out, he returns home where he learns the Jokerz killed his father. Initially, it appears it was retaliation, but Terry discovers different.

A corrupt billionaire, Derek Powers runs Bruce’s former company, now called Wayne-Powers. Powers’ company distributed illegal chemical weapons through the company. Terry’s father found out and that’s why he was killed. Terry asks for Bruce’s help, but he tells Terry to go to the police, Commissioner Barbara Gordon. Instead, Terry steals the suit and takes on the big bads by himself. Seeing Terry’s raw potential and powerful sense of morality, Bruce begrudgingly becomes his mentor.

All of that could very easily be applied to the DCEU. Of course, there would be some differences to match the tone, setting and story it’s telling, but it could very well work in a post-Batman ’89 DCEU story.

A fresh look for the DCEU

With the DCEU undergoing changes, again, this could be the first step to giving fans a unique hero. A Batman Beyond adaptation would be a coming-of-age story of a troubled teen struggling to find his footing in a corrupt world calling his name, but when he discovers the hero within, he sets out to save that corrupt world from itself.

Imagine a film or HBO Max TV series set in a future Gotham City that’s dark and gritty yet incredibly colorful with a cyberpunk/neo-goth aesthetic.

The film’s prologue could take place a few years after Keaton’s Flash appearance. A 20-years time jump can show us Terry and his family before the future hero finds himself entangled with the Jokerz. There are plenty of young stars who’d kill it as Terry, like fan-cast favorite Dylan O’Brien  (seriously, get him the DCEU already!). And even if Keaton were to decline, they could still use Kevin Conroy (he did, after all, voice the older Bruce Wayne in the animated series and portray an alternate version of him in Crisis On Infinite Earths).

If a movie isn’t something WB wants, perhaps they turn to HBO Max for a DCEU-set spin-off. Rumors of a live-action Batman Beyond series surfaced at one point, so perhaps Warner Bros should rekindle the flames and give fans what we want.

Would you like to see a Batman Beyond series set in the DCEU? Let us know in the comments below!