The Best Michael Keaton Batman Moments From the Burtonverse to The Flash

As Batman’s climactic tower climb in the ’89 movie demonstrates, Keaton knows how to make the suit an extension of his performance. When he slowly ascends the staircase, we don’t see an almost immobile actor trying not to trip and break his neck. We see vengeance personified, an unstoppable force coming to the Joker. Even when Batman watches one of Joker’s goons do ornate sword tricks, Keaton comes off as stoic instead of stuck.

Bruce By Himself

With its surreal visuals, outstanding performances, and weird sexual tension, Batman Returns is one of the best superhero movies of all time. But it’s not really a great Batman movie, for the simple fact that there’s not really much Batman in it. Batman and his billionaire playboy alter-ego get crowded out by the movie’s antagonists Catwoman, the Penguin, and Max Shreck, leaving little room for Batman to do his thing. But make no mistake, Keaton takes full advantage of all the screen time he can get.

Take his introduction in the movie, when the Red Triangle Gang attacks Gotham’s holiday revelers. After an establishing shot of stately Wayne Manor, we cut to Bruce sitting bored in his unlit drawing room. When a pair of Bat-Signals flood the room, Bruce stands up immediately, giving his best hero pose. In the hands of a lesser actor, the scene would seem ridiculous, a visual testament to Batman Returns’ disinterest in Batman. But Keaton perfectly captures Bruce’s brooding nature, forcing us to accept that he would spend his nights just thinking about superstitious and cowardly lots.

Rooftop Date

Kim Basinger did her best with Vicki Vale, but there’s no denying the chemistry between Batman and Catwoman, and not just because of Michelle Pfeiffer‘s iconic turn. Vale might have been a good match for Bruce Wayne, but with Catwoman, Batman found the girl for him, another freak who loved hanging out on rooftops in black leather. Pfeiffer dominates every one of her scenes, from her first tossed-off “meow” to her final tragic end. But Keaton deserves credit too for playing the perfect straight man to the vamping villain.

Just look at the range of emotion he conveys when the two first meet, just after Batman challenges the Penguin. There’s a glow of excitement in Keaton’s eyes when he realizes that there’s a beautiful lady weirdo out there, and genuine embarrassment when he falls for Selina’s “defenseless woman” ruse. When Catwoman runs her claws across Batman’s face, purring about the search for the person behind the mask, his inner-conflict is clear, wanting to engage more with her but knowing that removing the mask will only destroy their tension.

Bruce Meets Shreck

If Batman gets the short shrift in Batman Returns, then that’s doubly-true of Bruce Wayne, who barely appears in the villain-centric movie. But Keaton makes the most his limited time, especially in this billionaire standoff between Bruce Wayne and Christopher Walken‘s equally odd Max Shreck. If you just listen to the words Keaton and Walken exchange, you would find that screenwriter Daniel Waters is giving us the usual Bruce Wayne routine, where Batman slyly needles evil businessmen behind his playboy persona.