by Tim Burton Batman took some liberties when adapting the comic book story for the screen, most notably making a major change involving the death of Batman's parents. The change would have come as a shock to fans familiar with the source material… unless they had first seen star Michael Keaton promoting the film on David Letterman's talk show.
According to CinemaBlend, Keaton was asked about a gaffe he made during an interview on Letterman while promoting Batman. In the interview, Keaton let slip that the film reveals Jack Nicholson's Joker to be the person who killed Bruce Wayne's parents. In comic book lore, a thug named Joe Chill is traditionally portrayed as the killer rather than the Clown Prince of Crime. Keaton didn't immediately recall the mistake, but agreed that it was “stupid” of him to let it slip.
“Oh, really? Oh, damn. It really seems like that's who I am. So stupid,” Keaton said when asked about the mistake. He added, “Oh, f***. Damn! But didn't everyone know that?“
Sounds just like me. Really stupid.
One advantage Keaton may have had in dropping the spoiler at the time is that social media and YouTube did not exist in the late 1980s. Nowadays, Keaton's spoiler clip may have quickly circulated on the Internet. At the time, the film was mostly spoiled only for those who watched the Letterman interview, although the statement may have received some limited press coverage. There is certainly a lot more scrutiny on actors keeping spoilers at bay these days, which makes major studios much more vigilant in their methods of keeping talent under wraps.
Regardless of the spoiler, fans loved Keaton as Bruce Wayne. He would team up with Burton again to reprise the role in the sequel. Batman Returnsand was apparently done playing the superhero when Val Kilmer replaced him for Batman ForeverHowever, Keaton would later reprise the role of Batman for a major return in 2023. The FlashHe was also slated to appear in DC Studios'Batgirl film, and is said to have had a filmed cameo for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom which did not make the final cut. There are currently no plans for Keaton to return for any more DC films.
Michael Keaton and Tim Burton recently reunited for a Beetlejuice sequel
Keaton recently revisited another major character from the 80s. He returned as “Ghost With the Most” in Beetle Juice Beetle Juicethe new sequel to Tim Burton's film Beetle Juice. Burton also returned to direct the film, reuniting once again with Keaton. The film was a huge success, garnering the strongest opening weekend numbers of any film Burton released in his career.
Keaton can be seen on the big screen in Beetle Juice Beetle Juice.
Source: CinemaBlend