The Flash Director Reveals the Dark Reason Why Michael Keaton’s Batman Retired

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

The Flash director has revealed the dark reason why Michael Keaton’s Batman retired.

Appearing on a new behind-the-scenes featurette, Andy Muschietti explained exactly why Keaton’s version of Bruce Wayne decided to step away from being Batman.

And yes, it’s pretty grim.

“I always said something should have happened to Bruce Wayne to want to stop being Batman,” he explained. “And my idea was, he did something that goes against his code – he killed a criminal in front of [the criminal’s] child. Not knowingly, but he still did it.”

Batman fans will recognize that moment as a direct parallel to the death of Wayne’s own parents.

That’s right – Batman became the very thing he hated.

It’s a poetic end for Keaton’s vigilante career, and Muschietti added that it’s “an exact mirroring situation of what happened to him when his parents were killed in front of him [at the] Monarch Theater, and that created the ‘monster’ that Batman is.”

However, this fitting end is never mentioned in the film. Instead, when asked why he gave up being Batman, Keaton’s version of Bruce Wayne simply responds that Gotham no longer needed him.

“He just couldn’t cope with it and that’s why he decided to shut off his other side – The Batman,” added Muschietti. “He hasn’t been able to forgive himself and now the way we find him [in The Flash] is an evolution of that.”

It’s an interesting subversion of Batman’s already quite melancholy origin story… and it’s made even more interesting thanks to Muschietti’s upcoming project – Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

The upcoming Batman flick is already said to be darker and more intense than previous Batman films, and this glimpse into Muschietti’s thoughts on the Caped Crusader might give us a clue about what to expect.

Either way, it’s an interesting insight into the man who’s bringing us a Batman movie in the near future.

IGN’s The Flash review gave it 7/10 and said: “The Flash is an ambitious superhero movie that largely pulls off its tale of two worlds, two Flashes, and two Batmans. The superhero fan service is strong with this one – perhaps too strong at times – but it never fully overshadows Barry Allen’s genuinely tragic and heartfelt story of grief… If this is the truly last stop on the Snyderverse express, then it’s a respectable way to go out.”

Want to read more about The Flash? Check out how The Flash’s ending sets up a new DCU as well as why body horror and superhero movies are a perfect match.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.