The Michael Keaton Batman movies have led to numerous sequel and spinoff properties, taking place in as many as 4 different DC Universes. Critically, commercially, and culturally, 1989’s Batman was a huge success for DC and Warner Bros, cementing itself as a pop culture phenomenon and leaving a lasting impact on how major blockbuster films are marketed. The film’s 1992 sequel, Batman Returns, did not reach the same soaring heights as its predecessor, at least initially. Returns was a controversial film whose violent and sexual content – and significant deviations from the Batman comic source material – offended many viewers.

live-action Batman movie and its bold choices and aesthetic qualities. Even with the film’s initial controversy, it was hardly the end of the original franchise. The story of Michael Keaton’s Batman continued in a variety of properties, with many taking place in separate universes and 1989’s Batman and Batman Returns being overlapping canon. Alternate timelines and overlapping continuity are common in superhero fiction, but each of the different Michael Keaton Batman universes has a different and fascinating reason for existing.

Split image of Adam West, Christian Bale, and Robert Pattinson as Batman

Every Batman Actor, Ranked Silliest To Darkest

Live-action portrayals of Batman range from silly and lighthearted, like Adam West, to dark and serious, like Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson.

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Joel Schumacher's Batman Movies Were The Original Sequels

The controversial reception to Batman Returns led Warner Bros to take the Batman films in a more family-friendly direction, and thus Joel Schumacher replaced Tim Burton. Schumacher’s two films – Batman Forever and Batman & Robin – are arguably more comic-accurate than Burton’s films, but their more lighthearted tones and intentional camp resulted in poorer receptions than the Burton duology. The Schumacher films drastically reimagined Gotham City as a brighter and more futuristic setting, Michael Keaton was replaced with Val Kilmer (and later George Clooney) as Batman, and Billy Dee Williams was replaced by Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face.

Despite this, the Schumacher films are sequels to Burton’s movies. Michael Gough and Pat Hingle reprise their roles as Alfred Pennyworth and Commissioner Gordon, respectively, and there are even some continuity nods. In Batman Forever, Dr. Chase Meridian references Catwoman, and Bruce Wayne’s warnings to Dick Grayson against killing Two-Face allude to him killing The Joker. Alfred’s joke about the Batmobile in Batman & Robin may also reference Batman’s vehicles being destroyed in the Burton films. A canceled fifth film – Batman Triumphant – would have seen the villains of both the Burton and Schumacher films appear as Fear Toxin-induced hallucinations.

Batman '89 Comics Are Closer To The Keaton Batman Films

2021 saw the release of the Batman ’89 comics by Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones, and while they are not part of the same universe as Joel Schumacher’s Batman movies, they also follow up on the events of 1989’s Batman and Batman Returns. Sam Hamm wrote the script for 1989’s Batman and the original story treatment for Batman Returns (despite it being replaced with a drastically different narrative by Daniel Waters), making him an ideal writer for Batman ’89, which is a far more direct continuation of the events and characterizations of the Burton films.

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Everything That Happened To Harvey Dent After Tim Burton's Batman

Billy Dee Williams was set to play both Harvey Dent and Two-Face in 1989's Batman, but what happened to his character after Tim Burton's films?

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Batman ’89 makes constant nods and references to the Burton films and develops characters like Bruce Wayne and Commissioner Gordon accordingly. Harvey Dent – who retains the likeness of Billy Dee Williams – becomes a significantly different Two-Face than Batman Forever’s version. Batman ’89 also introduces a new version of Robin (now the original character Drake Winston), using Marlon Wayans’ likeness as a nod to Wayans nearly playing the Boy Wonder in Batman Returns. Batman ’89 is tailor-made for those who perhaps wish to see what hypothetical Batman sequels would look like if they were still being directed by Tim Burton.

The Flash Almost Made Keaton's Batman Part Of The DCEU's Future

Michael Keaton himself returned to the Batman role, this time in the DC Extended Universe film The Flash. The movie is a loose adaptation of the Flashpoint comic storyline, in which Barry Allen accidentally creates a different timeline by traveling back in time and saving his mother’s life. In the DCEU, this new timeline appears to be a hybrid of the main universe and the Burton Batman timeline, with Keaton’s Batman replacing Ben Affleck’s iteration. In this DCEU Flashpoint universe, the events of 1989’s Batman, Batman Returns, and perhaps even the Batman ‘89 comics all occurred years ago.

The Flash ends with Keaton’s Batman dying in battle against General Zod’s Kryptonian extremists and then having his timeline erased when Barry Allen repairs the timeline. Fascinatingly, The Flash was initially going to end with the DCEU remaining a hybrid of the pre-Flashpoint timeline and the Burton Batman universe. With Ben Affleck stepping down from the Batman role, Keaton would have replaced him as the DCEU’s Batman and DC Universe.

The canceled Batgirl film would have taken place in this post-Flashpoint DCEU, with Keaton reprising his role as Batman once again.

Batman: Resurrection Continues The Story From Batman '89

Other continuations of the Burton Batman movies are not in a clearly defined continuity. During the Arrowverse’s Crisis on Infinite Earths television event, a Burton Batman universe appears, with a newspaper headline revealing that The Joker (seemingly having returned from the dead) has been captured by Batman. Michael Keaton’s Batman and Jack Nicholson’s Joker have similarly appeared in recent DC comics, with the first issue of Dark Crisis: Big Bang being one notable example. While these properties seemingly branch off from the Burton films, it is not clear if they inhabit the same continuity as Batman ’89, for instance.

John Jackson Miller’s novel Batman: Resurrection will be released in October 2024, and will be set between the events of 1989’s Batman and Batman Returns. As an interquel, Resurrection will most likely not reference, let alone contradict, the established characters or lore of the Schumacher films or the Batman ’89 comics, as it may be more focused on bridging the stories of the two Burton films. This might allow Resurrection to inhabit all of the branching Batman timelines, making it a third instance of overlapping continuity between the original two Michael Keaton Batman movies and their various sequels.