You’ll Never Watch Michael Keaton’s $100M Oscar Winner The Same After The Flash’s Box Office Bomb

The disappointing reception to 2023’s The Flash may have changed audiences’ perspectives on one of Michael Keaton’s most-celebrated roles from 2014’s Birdman of (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Keaton was confirmed to be joining the cast of The Flash in August 2020, reprising his role of Bruce Wayne from 1989’s Batman and 1992’s Batman Returns in 2023’s live-action adaptation of DC Comics’ Flashpoint storyline. Despite Keaton’s involvement heightening the nostalgia of The Flash, the project still performed abysmally at the box office, becoming one of the biggest bombs of all time, which gives new meaning to one of Keaton’s previous roles an Academy Award-winning film from Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Michael Keaton portrayed Riggan Thomson in 2014’s Birdman, a washed-up Hollywood actor who is struggling to regain recognition by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production. Prior to falling out of the public eye, Thomson portrayed the superhero “Birdman” in a movie trilogy between 1989 and 1992, resembling Keaton’s real-world appearance as Batman in the same years. However, while Riggan Thomson was able to successfully revive his career by the end of Birdman, complications have arisen for Michael Keaton in The Flash, adding an extra dimension to how audiences might rewatch Birdman in the future.

The Flash’s Failure Changes How You See Michael Keaton’s Birdman

While Riggan Thomson was able to revive his successful career in Birdman, Michael Keaton’s appearance as Bruce Wayne in The Flash did very little to support his faltering superhero career. Despite Keaton’s return as Batman being highly-anticipated, The Flash was still a disappointing addition to Warner Bros.’ DC franchise, with criticism falling on the film’s confusing plot, poor adaptation of DC Comics’ source material, and off-putting visual effects. The Flash reportedly lost Warner Bros. roughly $200 million, only bringing in $268.5 million at the box office on a budget of $220 million, not accounting for marketing and distribution, making it one of the biggest box office bombs of all time.

The Flash was originally supposed to kick-start a return-to-form for Michael Keaton as Batman, who was planned to appear in the canceled Batgirl, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and a solo Batman Beyond project. Major changes at Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios led to these plans being scrapped, with Keaton’s return as Bruce Wayne only being featured in The Flash with no chance of redemption. This is the antithesis of Birdman’s plot, which had striking similarities to Keaton’s own career as Batman, though ending in success rather than tragedy, which drastically changes how audiences may watch back Birdman.

Does The Flash’s Box Office Actually Prove Birdman’s Point?

Birdman proved just how stressful it could be for an actor to resurrect their career, particularly one who had portrayed a popular and recognizable superhero character. Actors in superhero franchises have often commented on how their specific roles consume most of their professional careers for as long as they’re involved in the franchise. There’s no doubt that Michael Keaton felt this pressure as Batman and other superheroes, including the MCU’s Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. Vulture, particularly in recent years. The fact that Keaton was promised a revival of his successful turn as Batman in The Flash made the film’s downfall even more poignant.

Riggan Thomson found it difficult to separate his personal life from his life as Birdman, and it seems the same fate may have befallen Michael Keaton in The Flash. Batman appears to be following Keaton around, giving his role in Birdman new meaning, and where The Flash may have mirrored Birdman if the former had been a success, it ended up proving Birdman’s point in that returning to a notable superhero role isn’t actually the key to success. Keaton has had a remarkable career outside of superhero cinema, so perhaps it’s now time to finally hang up the cape, just as Thomson bade farewell to Birdman in the 2014 film.

Michael Keaton’s Superhero Movie Career Has Turned Sour

Aside from an appearance in The Flash, Michael Keaton’s superhero career has taken a strange and disappointing turn in recent years. His portrayal of Batman in 1989 and 1992 has been praised as one of the best iterations of the hero in live-action, and Keaton’s career was set to continue in future DC projects, which will now never come to fruition. Batgirl, which would have featured Keaton’s Batman, was canceled in post-production, and this was supposed to lead to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and a solo film. Keaton’s role in the Aquaman sequel has been cut, and his solo project scrapped, marking a tragic chapter in Keaton’s DC career.

Keaton perhaps found more luck in Marvel Studios’ 2017 reboot Spider-Man: Homecoming, which saw him portray the Vulture opposite Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. While his version of the Vulture was a hit, Marvel then began to take liberties with the character, leaving his story on a loose end that culminated in his confusing story following 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. Doctor Strange’s spell in No Way Home somehow thrust Vulture into Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, appearing in 2022’s reviled Morbius. Appearances in both Morbius and The Flash have attached Keaton to two poorly-received projects in the space of only a year, which could damage his reputation as a talented performer.