Michael Keaton is reportedly in early talks to reprise the role of Bruce Wayne inThe Flashalong with other DC movies, and a wild new rumor suggests Warner Bros. is keeping Christian Bale in mind for their Plan B. Starring in Tim Burton’sBatmanin 1989 as well as its 1992 sequelBatman Returns, Keaton has been a fan favorite Batman actor for decades, and news of his potential entry into the DCEU has fans all across the world excited about the prospect.
As exciting as the potentiality is, it might be a little premature to pop open the champagne bottle just yet.Michael Keatonhas not yet officially signed on with Warner Bros. to play the role, and if the reports are accurate, the two sides are still in the early stages of negotiations. This means there’s a chance the deal with Keaton will fall through for one reason or another. Now that the news of Keaton’s potential involvement withThe Flashhas gone viral, fans will be tremendously disappointed if Keaton doesn’t appear, but according to a new rumor reported by Jeremy Conrad at DCEU Mythic, Warner Bros. will call upon another fan favorite Batman actor from years past to play theFlashpointBruce Wayne.
According to Conrad, the plan at Warner Bros. is to debut anolder version of Batmanfrom an alternate reality for the upcoming movie, suggesting there’s no plan at this time to fall back on Ben Affleck. Given how popular Keaton still is withBatmanfans, it’s obvious why he’d be the first choice to take on the role, and as it could lead to playing this older Bruce Wayne in many other DC movies, the deal could be extremely lucrative for Keaton. Still, if securing Keaton ultimately fails, Conrad says Warner Bros. will “attempt to get Christian Bale to return,” which also suggests the studio hasn’t actually yet reached out to the actor about the possibility.
Of course, getting Bale to reprise the role of Bruce Wayne might present some challenges on the other side, asChristian Balewould have to be willing to be involved without the direction of Christopher Nolan. AfterThe Dark Knight Rises, Bale had announced that he was finished playing Batman. When fans called for him to play the role once again forJustice Leagueyears later, Bale said there was no chance of it happening in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “It’s a torch that should be handed from one actor to another. So I enjoy looking forward to what somebody else will come up with,” Bale said at the time.
There’s no doubt that manyDark Knightfans would be stoked to see Bale return to the role ofBatmanagain just one more time, even outside of Christopher Nolan’s movie universe, no matter how unlikely it might be. It’s also clear that people are tremendously excited to see Keaton potentially reprise the role inThe Flash. In any case, there’s now much more anticipation for this movie than ever before. Warner Bros. will release the movie in theaters on August 16, 2025.
