Fans have always wanted to see Batman Beyond adapted for live-action, but after an initial attempt to get the project off the ground 20 years ago, it seems to have fallen way down Warner Bros.’ list of priorities. Every now and again, there are rumors of the futuristic spin on the Dark Knight being back in development, but so far, there’s been nothing concrete.
However, the recent announcement that Michael Keaton would be returning to play Bruce Wayne in The Flash and continue on as a recurring part of the DCEU instantly made Batman Beyond a more realistic proposition than ever before. After all, the multiverse has blown the door for what can happen in the franchise wide open, and the 69 year-old Keaton is the perfect age to play a retired vigilante who takes young Terry McGinnis under his wing.
The rumor mill has been churning ever since the star of Tim Burton’s duology was confirmed for his comeback, and now former Teen Wolf actor Tyler Posey has thrown his hat into the ring to play the title character in Batman Beyond. The 29 year-old did say that he’d want to make it a TV show, though, but he’s hardly likely to turn down a big screen offer if it came his way.
“Yeah, I really wanna do Batman Beyond. There was a cartoon, years ago, called Batman Beyond, and I really wanna adapt that into a TV show. I wanna do that so bad. I think it would be a really cool spin on a younger Batman. I know Rob Pattinson is doing the new one right now and he’s younger but not as young as me. I think it would be cool to do a take on old Batman being this mentor to a younger Batman.”
A lot of hopeful fans were expecting Batman Beyond to be announced at DC FanDome, but it never came to fruition. With Michael Keaton signing a multi-picture contract to remain on board as the older Bruce Wayne for a while yet, though, the project is staring the DCEU right in the face and it would be a huge missed opportunity if they weren’t contemplating the idea, at the very least.