Why Michael Keaton ‘Didn’t Care’ About ‘Batgirl’ Cancellation

Michael Keaton isn’t bothered by the fact that Warner Bros. shelved Batgirl indefinitely.

While speaking to GQ in a new profile published on Monday, August 19, Keaton, 72, opened up about the reason why he let the film’s cancellation roll off his shoulders.

“I didn’t care one way or another. Big, fun, nice check,” he told the outlet before speaking highly of Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah. “I like those boys. They’re nice guys. I pull for them. I want them to succeed, and I think they felt very badly, and that made me feel bad. Me? I’m good.”

Keaton starred as Bruce Wayne/Batman in 1989’s Batman and its 1992 sequel, Batman Returns. Both films were directed by Tim Burton, who told GQ he tapped Keaton to portray the superhero “because he has a certain energy.”

“That’s why I wanted him to be in Batman, because you just look in his eyes and he seems intelligent, scary, crazy, everything all at once,” Burton explained to the outlet.

Other celebrities who have taken on the role of the caped crusader through the years include Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Val Kilmer, Robert Pattinson and more.

Keaton and Burton – who first worked together on 1988’s horror/comedy film Beetlejuice – recently reunited for the movie’s highly anticipated sequel, which hits theaters on September 6.

The director opened up to GQ about his longtime friend and collaborator, praising him for seamlessly stepping back into the titular role after more than 30 years.

“It was like a weird family reunion,” Burton said of shooting Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. “Very strange, but the strange part of it is, Michael got back so into it, it was kind of scary in a way. I mean, for somebody who didn’t really maybe want to do it, he seemed to channel it very quickly. And so it was quite exciting and surreal.”

Along with Keaton, original cast members Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara will reprise their roles in the forthcoming film. Jenna Ortega and Justin Theroux also star in the sequel. Ortega, 21, previously worked with Burton on Netflix’s hit Addams Family spinoff, Wednesday, which premiered on the streaming service in 2022.

“It’s been quite an insane experience,” she told The Hollywood Reporter in January that year. “I’ve been lucky enough to get the opportunity to work with an iconic director who just so happens to be one of the sweetest directors I’ve worked with, and also the most detail-oriented.”

She continued, “To step into the shoes of somebody who’s a bit more eccentric and frightening has been really exciting for me, and definitely a challenge — especially with such a beloved character, I really want to take care of her and do her justice.”