The Batman proves that director Tim Burton was correct about his depiction of the Caped Crusader in his own live-action movies. When 1989's Batman was produced, most people associated Batman with either the campy 1960s TV series or Hanna-Barbera's Super Friends cartoon. As only his third feature following Pee Wee's Big Adventure (1985) and Beetlejuice (1988), Tim Burton had much to prove with Batman.
In the Batman: The Animated Series documentary The Heart of Batman (via YouTube), franchise executive producer Michael Ulsan talked about how Tim Burton wrestled with the concept that any creative move he made could make the audience unintentionally laugh. Ulsan described how Burton figured it out by telling him, "You know, Michael, in order to do this seriously, this movie is not going to be about Batman… No, this movie’s got to be about Bruce Wayne." More than three decades later, The Batman proves Tim Burton's statement correct by focusing on Bruce Wayne discovering himself and coming to with the fact his mission of vengeance is not helping Gotham as he wanted.
How The Batman Is Like Tim Burton's Dark Knight Movies
Tim Burton's Batman was released over twenty years after the conclusion of the 1966-1968 Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. That series and its very campy tone framed the perception of Batman for an entire generation. Tim Burton's Batman marked the first film depiction of the much darker and more serious Batman seen in the comics, such as in 1986's The Dark Knight Returns. Burton's depiction of Bruce Wayne had him as a man who is still haunted by his parents' murder, with Burton even making the creative decision of making Jack Napier, aka The Joker, responsible for the murder instead of Joe Chill, as traditionally depicted in the comics.
With The Batman, Matt Reeves arguably goes in a much darker direction than Tim Burton, including the re-characterization of The Riddler as a crazed serial killer. However, the film features similarities regarding the depiction of Bruce Wayne and his inner torment. The Batman goes the extra step by making Robert Patterson's version of Bruce Wayne a complete recluse who is very rarely seen in public. Both films end with Bruce Wayne finding catharsis, whether it be Michael Keaton realizing forever Batman nemesis the Joker was the one who killed his parents or Robert Patterson realizing his thirst for vengeance is doing more harm than good by creating villains such as The Riddler.
Why A Serious Batman Movie Needs To Be About Bruce Wayne
While Tim Burton established the template of making a serious Batman film about Bruce Wayne, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy perfected it, especially Batman Begins, which spends the entire first half focusing on Bruce Wayne before Batman even makes his debut. Toward the end of that film, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) makes the comment that the Billionaire Bruce Wayne is the one wearing a mask and that Batman is his true persona. This comment points to how serious Batman films always emphasize the duality between Bruce Wayne and Batman and that it can be difficult to tell which is the real persona.
While The Batman may live in the shadow of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, it can be argued that the film focuses on Bruce Wayne more than any that has come before. The story is set quite early in the Caped Crusader's career, and this Bruce Wayne is still crafting the character, so to speak. This continued evolution of Bruce Wayne into Batman will surely be explored in future films of Matt Reeves' trilogy, but the foundation was set with Tim Burton in 1989.
