For many fans of Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne, the best way to celebrate Christmas this year was with a viewing of the classic film Batman Returns. Directed by Tim Burton and released in 1992, the film brought back the original Batman star alongside Danny DeVito’s Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. It was the last film to feature Keaton in the Batsuit ahead of his upcoming return to the role in The Flash, releasing in theaters in 2022.
Given that Keaton will soon return in The Flash, along with the HBO Max movie Batgirl and likely other projects, it’s as good a time as any to revisit his original films. On Christmas Day, many fans were watching Batman Returns in honor of the holiday. In the film, which is set at Christmastime, Gotham City and its holiday celebrations come under attack by the Penguin and his goons. This is enough to qualify the film as a Christmas movie, and Batman Returns was trending with fans calling the film required holiday viewing.
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“The ultimate Christmas movie… Batman Returns,” one blunt tweet reads, including a handful of images from the sequel. They depict some of the holiday decorations and festivities in Gotham City as well as a screenshot of Bruce saying, “Merry Christmas, Alfred.”
“time to watch the greatest christmas movie of all time aka batman returns,” another tweet states.
“Great to see Batman Returns trending today of all days,” adds journalist Emmet Gates. “One of the top 10 greatest Christmas movies of all time. Hill = prepared to die on.”
Another fan who’s looking forward to The Batman still can’t help but feel nostalgic for Batman Returns with another tweet that says, “I’m really interested in Robert Pattinson as Batman. But after watching Batman Returns as I usually do during the Christmas season, I can’t help but be saddened that we’ll probably never see a Batman written this witty again. Perfect balance of dark and funny.”
Tim Burton directed Batman Returns using a screenplay by Daniel Waters with a story by Waters and Sam Hamm. It stars Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Michael Gough, Pat Ingle, Michael Murphy, and Vincent Schiavelli. While Val Kilmer took over the role with Batman Forever, the new comic book series Batman ‘89 continues the events established in the original Burton films.
The film’s synopsis reads: “The monstrous Penguin (Danny DeVito), who lives in the sewers beneath Gotham, joins up with wicked shock-headed businessman Max Shreck (Christopher Walken) to topple the Batman (Michael Keaton) once and for all. But when Shreck’s timid assistant, Selina Kyle (Michelle Pfeiffer), finds out, and Shreck tries to kill her, she is transformed into the sexy Catwoman. She teams up with the Penguin and Shreck to destroy Batman, but sparks fly unexpectedly when she confronts the caped crusader.”
Christmas might be past us, but with many of us still having the tree still in place, fans can keep the festivities going by giving Batman Returns a watch, as so many others have. You can find the sequel streaming on HBO Max.
