Is there a ground zero moment where the stars aligned and the idea of a comic book media empire single-handedly changing the face of Hollywood suddenly seemed possible? Despite the MCU being in a fragile state sinceAvengers: Endgame,Deadpool & Wolverine’s massive box office successkeeps it alive. Though the DCEU was an extremely mixed bag,James Gunnplans to rescue the iconic comic book heroes in his rebooted Superman franchise. In this current climate, where comic book movies seem to be seriously in jeopardy of collapsing and reaching their own endgame, can we point to a proper beginning? If you askMichael Keaton, the answer is yes, andhe directly alleges that the person responsible for said moment wasTim Burton, when he madeBatman(1989).
Tim Burton Worked Hard To Get Michael Keaton’s ‘Batman’ Off the Ground
In a recentGQprofilein which Keaton looks back on his career and hypes up his reuniting with Burton forBeetlejuice Beetlejuice, he casually mentions that he believes that Tim Burton deserves more credit for the rise of the superhero movie as the dominant genre of modern Hollywood. He argues that “there’s a strong possibility there is no Marvel Universe, there is no DC Universe, without Tim Burton,” and also gives him credit for choosing Keaton after watching his performance inClean and Sober. Keaton has always been outspoken about his love for Tim Burton and working with him, and has always vouched for his impact, hence why he continues to work with Burton, even onone of his worst films. So does Keaton have a point, or is he just hyping up one of his favorite buddies?
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Reverse Flash and a new Batman were also in the works.
Honestly, yes, he’s absolutely right, though it took decades for Burton’s impact to properly be felt. If you look at comic book movies beforeBatman (1989), the only major Hollywood success was theSuperman franchise starringChristopher Reeve. While the first two films were monster hits, the third and fourth films floundered both critically and financially, which quickly soured the concept of a superhero film to the masses. There had been such a dry spell between the heights of those films and the conception ofBatman(1989) as an actual film that,according to producerMichael Uslan, the film’s core didn’t click until Tim Burton differentiated it fromSupermanby arguing that the film had to care much more about Bruce Wayne’s psychology and why he’s so driven to be Batman. For that matter,the production only finally got off the groundafter Tim Burton became involved as a director, hot off hisPee-Wee’s Big Adventuresuccess, with Warner Bros. (the same studio behindSuperman) wanting to capitalize on his name.
The Success of Tim Burton’s Batman Movie Laid the Groundwork for Superhero Franchises
Making over $400 million worldwide at the box office, it spawned a series of films that included an even-freakier sequel made by Burton,Batman Returns,and two films byJoel Schumacher,Batman Forever, andBatman & Robin. Up untilBatman & Robin, each of the sequels were successful enough that it made Hollywood want to pay attention to other comic book properties, leading to films likeSpawn,BladeandX-Men.
More specifically, the failure ofBatman & Robinled toa temporary crumbling of the Batman brand that caused Warner Bros. to want to shift away from the campy vibes into something more serious. This eventually led to them courtingChristopher Nolanto do a full-scale reboot of the franchise, leading toBatman Begins, which triggeredone of the great trilogies in film historyand kickstarted the thirst for comic book films again. The success ofBatman Beginshelped make studios and the audience more comfortable with a big tentpole superhero film, paving the way forIron Man. The success ofIron Manled to the evolution of the MCU, which then led to Warner Bros. trying to mount a direct competition with the DCEU. None of those dominoes would have fallen were it not for Tim Burton making the firstBatmanfilm such a pivotal moment in American pop culture.
The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.
Batmanis available to watch on Max in the U.S.
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