In Tim Burton's Vicki Vale, but the character didn't appear in the sequel Batman Returns. In addition to Basinger, Batman's cast included Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader, and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. The story focused on Batman as he battled former mobster Jack Napier following his transformation into the mentally-unhinged Clown Prince of Crime. Meanwhile, Vale and her colleague Alexander Knox, played by Robert Wuhl, attempted to uncover information about the shadowy vigilante, a task further complicated by Vale's romance with Wayne.
Basinger took on the role after Sean Young suffered an injury just before filming. Basinger understood Vale's purpose in the movie. In 2019, Basinger told Keaton and Basinger, who was a tenacious yet vulnerable heroine.
Despite Basinger's successful collaborative relationship with Burton, she didn't return for the next film. Early versions of Sam Hamm's scripts for Batman Returns included the return of both Vicki Vale, who was still dating Bruce, and Billy Dee Williams' Harvey Dent. However, Burton, who Warner Bros. granted more creative license directing the second film, rejected Hamm's efforts to make Batman Returns a sequel opposed to a standalone film. Burton brought on Daniel Waters, who penned the script for the dark comedy, Michelle Pfieffer as Selina Kyle and her alter-ego, Catwoman.
Vale's absence was addressed in Batman Returns. Pfieffer, who pulled double duty as a villain and Wayne's love interest, asked him why he and Vale broke up, questioning if he kept things from her. Wayne explained he was entirely forthcoming, but that there were two truths and Vale had "trouble reconciling them," something he struggled with himself. In Christopher Nolan's Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne and his childhood sweetheart, Rachel Dawes, faced a similar stumbling block.
Narratively speaking, there wasn't room for both Vale and Kyle in Batman Returns, since both characters had arcs involving living double lives. So Hamm's plans to have Wayne propose to Vale never came to fruition. Basinger didn't reprise her role as Vale on the big screen, but the actress continued to play Vale in the years following Batman's release: Basinger told THR that she visited terminally ill children recreating Vale's look, telling them Batman was waiting for her in the Batmobile. In a 2017 interview with Nicholson's performances.
