Ever since Michael Keaton was announced to be returning as Bruce Wayne in The Flash for the first time in 30 years, a live-action adaptation of Batman Beyond has felt inevitable, especially when it’s been reported that Tim Burton’s Caped Crusader will be the DCEU’s canonical Batman moving forward, with the 69 year-old actor highly unlikely to be getting suited and booted for a series of action-packed blockbusters.
Almost as inevitable as the project itself is the onslaught of rumors and speculation surrounding it, and at various points over the last few months, we’ve heard multiple stories that Batman Beyond is the works as a theatrical movie or an HBO Max exclusive. The latest addition to the rumor mill is that the beloved animated series is actually getting the episodic treatment, but this time with the added caveat that it could wind up on The CW.
Of course, the idea of Michael Keaton returning to the fold on network television should by no means be taken at face value, especially when HBO Max is shaping up to be the home of high profile original DC content. That being said, the two parties have struck up something of an agreement recently with news breaking earlier this month that The CW and the streamer were looking to co-finance a number of shows, while the entirety of the Arrowverse will eventually be added to the platform’s content library once all of the various distribution deals with other services start expiring.
However, giving away Michael Keaton in Batman Beyond on The CW would be a very strange and unusual move on WarnerMedia’s part, especially when the goal is to continue driving up HBO Max subscriber numbers to gain a foothold in the highly competitive streaming wars, making it a somewhat unlikely proposition as things stand at the moment.
