It looks like Tom Holland isn’t the only superhero to drop major spoilers. A recently resurfaced video shows Batman star Michael Keaton having a chat with David Letterman when he dropped a major spoiler for the film.
In the clip, Letterman asks Keaton for more information about the plot of the film — and pointedly asks the actor whether the Joker (Jack Nicholson) is responsible for the deaths of Batman’s parents. Keaton, perhaps oversharing, says, “Yeah, but he doesn’t know it ‘til later – I’ve kind of blown the plot here.”
The reveal is a major plot point in the 1989, Tim Burton-directed film. In most origin stories, Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered by a petty crook known as Joe Chill. The Joker being the man responsible for the Wayne murders is an adaptational change that was intended to be a surprise for audiences.
In fairness, Keaton seems to own up to the goof in the clip, as Letterman chides him and suggests that no one will want to see the film now. And knowledge of the twist doesn’t necessarily spoil its entire context: while Keaton spoiled that Joker was responsible for the creation of the Batman, the audience didn’t know how Batman would react to that information.
Keaton will soon reprise his role as Batman in The Flash, which drops in theaters on June 16. The film is an adaptation of the Flashpoint story line; in that alternate universe story, Batman was actually Thomas Wayne, with Bruce Wayne having died in his place. Here, DC has opted to replace Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne with an alternate take on the character played by Keaton.
