How Did Batman (1989) Influence The Batman?

How Did Batman (1989) Influence The Batman? 

Batman is one of the most influential and popular characters in comic book history. He’s a generational character that has appealed to multiple generations. Today I wanted to talk about how possibly the most iconic Batman movie, Batman (1989) influenced the latest Batman adaptation, The Batman. This idea came from a paper that I wrote for my film analysis class that I took this past semester. I wanted to turn this into a blog post. So, here we are talking about how Batman (1989) influenced The Batman. Let’s get started!

Batman (1989)’s Importance: I feel like it’s important to talk about just how important Batman (1989) was when it came out. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s there weren’t a lot of comic book movies. There was only Christopher Reeves’ Superman and Michael Keaton’s Batman. This was the first time that we got proper, classic, and traditional Batman movies. Of course, we got the Adam West movie 33 years prior. But as far as taking the Batman source material seriously. This was the first movie to do that. It’s this interesting film to reflect on because three very famous talents rose to stardom with this movie. Those three being Michael Keaton, Tim Burton, and Danny Elfman. Michael Keaton is one of those examples of surprising comic book movie casting. He was known as a comedy actor starring in movies like Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice. Plus he’s like 5’8 so he wasn’t the obvious pick to play Batman. But he did a great job and this was the movie that launched him to the A-list. Burton and Elfman had been working for several years at that point. They both did Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Beetlejuice. Batman (1989) was just such a massive hit film that it helped springboard them to stardom. You have Jack Nicholson as the villain of the movie. 36 years ago he was a legend. He already did The Shining and so many other films. Him being cast as the Joker was a big deal that somebody of Nicholson’s caliber would join a Batman movie. It was a massive hit film grossing over $400 million. With all of that out of the way, let’s talk about the ways in which Batman (1989) influenced The Batman. 

• REASON #1: Characterization of Batman: This seemed like a great place to start talking with the character of Batman. What’s so cool about Batman is that there’s so many stories for storytellers to tell. Batman as a character has been around for a long time, going back to the 1930s. In the 80-90 years since then there’s been multiple different variations of the characters. Since we’ve gotten several actors that have played Batman there’s variations of the character. Matt Reeves had to find a new take on the character. One of the fundamental pieces of the Batman character from the comics is he’s the world’s greatest detective. In the movies, that’s a side of Batman that hasn’t been explored. That’s the take that Reeves took with the character. He pulled inspiration from David Fincher movies like Se7en and Zodiac. That’s a fresh new take on the character. As somebody who leaves David Fincher movies and thrillers, The Batman is right up my alley. You contrast this with Michael Keaton’s Batman. What’s cool about Keaton is that he’s probably the most comic accurate and faithful take on the character. The movie is on a much smaller scale than The Batman or the other Batman movies. I think it’s fine that Keaton’s Batman is very simplistic. Since it was the first real adaptation of Batman, it can get away with it. When you watch Batman (1989) and The Batman, you see the progression of the genre and film. When Tim Burton was adapting Batman (1989), we’d never gotten a proper Batman movie. He was able to tell the classic version of it. Every adaptation after that had to find a new version, a new take on the character. With the progression of comic books and how Batman has changed in the comic books, there’s new source material for directors to use in their movies. Even though Batman (1989) and The Batman are wildly different movies, there’s not much similarities between the characterizations of Batman. But there’s progression of the character of Batman because movies and comic books have changed. That’s just fascinating to me

• REASON #2: Characterization of Bruce Wayne: On the flip side, it’s important to talk about Bruce Wayne. While Bruce Wayne is Batman (spoiler alert), they’re one character. But in the other sense, they’re two characters. In movie form, we’ve gotten two different types of Bruce Wayne. Sometimes we get the more flashy and lively personality of Bruce Wayne. Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck are great examples of that. They embrace being Bruce Wayne. With Keaton and Robert Pattinson, their versions of Bruce Wayne are more reserved. They’re not as flashy and upfront with their Bruce Waynes. In a sense, Batman is more of the personality then Bruce Wayne is. A commonality between Keaton and Pattinson is we meet their Batman, before we meet Bruce Wayne. Both times we see Keaton and Pattinson on screen, it’s Batman not Bruce Wayne. Keaton’s Wayne doesn’t appear until about 30 minutes into the movie. Pattinson’s Wayne doesn’t show up until about 15-20 minutes into the movie. I think that’s a choice by Burton and Reeves to help the audience realize that Batman is more prominent in the story then Bruce Wayne. As a point of reference, with Christian Bale we meet Bruce Wayne before his Batman. Bale’s Batman doesn’t really want to be Batman. He wants to be Bruce Wayne and be with Rachel Dawes. Christopher Nolan crafted a story that puts Bruce Wayne more front and center then Batman does. The arc and journey for Pattinson’s Batman is realizing that Bruce Wayne and Batman can do more for the city. It makes sense as to why we meet Batman before we meet Bruce Wayne. Another interesting thing to add here, isn’t necessarily about the characterization but with the casting. When Keaton was cast as Batman there were people so disappointed and confused as to why Keaton was Batman. Keaton started his career being a comedy actor. He was in films like Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice. Those aren’t roles that you watch and you go “that guy should play Batman”. Keaton of course is a fantastic Batman, 36 years later. It started this trend with several actors being cast in roles that people were skeptical about. Famously, people were not happy when Heath Ledger was cast as Joker. Ledger was known as this teen heart throb from 10 Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain. My dad told me that he hated the first look they released. Obviously, that casting turned out fantastic for the genre. There’s several examples of actors that didn’t seem like the obvious pick for that role. But things turned out great for them. Robert Pattinson was another great example of this. The thing that he’s most known for was Twilight. So many people were rolling their eyes at the idea of a sparkling vampire guy playing Batman. But what the general audiences didn’t realize was that between Twilight and The Batman, he built out his resume of small indie dramas. He established himself as a great actor. Film fans realized that maybe Pattinson could be a great Batman, but the general audience didn’t know that. Keaton started with a trend going back over 30 years. 

• REASON #3: Gotham City: This is one of the most important parts when crafting a Batman movie. Gotham City is such a big part of the Batman lore. I think Batman (1989) and The Batman do the best jobs of crafting Gotham. Joel Schumacher crafted a very interesting and different Gotham, but I don’t think that’s a great Gotham. I don’t want neon lights in my Gotham City. Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder I don’t think crafted great Gothams. They feel too much like a real life city. One of the common criticisms of Nolan’s movies is that it feels too much like Chicago. I believe Zack Snyder also shot his Gotham City in Chicago. What I think makes Burton’s Gotham and Reeves’ Gotham do is make Gotham feel grounded and fantastical. Tim Burton has a gothic style to his movies and that style fits really well with Batman. There’s images with Burton’s Gotham that stick with you, it feels like this fantastical world. But there’s enough groundness to the character of Batman that it feels real. That’s a sense where you can see that version of Gotham actually happening and being a real place. Reeves crafted an even more grounded take on Gotham. Where it feels fantastical and distant, but it has this grounded and real nature to it. When promoting The Batman, Reeves spoke about how he created his version of Gotham. “I wanted Gotham to feel like an American city. I wanted it to feel like an American city that was not completely identifiable. So, there’s a lot of Chicago but hopefully, if you know The Thompson Center, you know what we’re doing. Now we’ve done CG to alter it and parts of what is there have been added in from actual stuff that we shot in the UK. And it’s meant to be our sort of Gotham square garden which sounds vague like New York so it’s sort of an amalgamation of a lot of American cities. We really wanted a foundation of gothic architecture and beautiful architecture...,” said Reeves. Those are similarities between the ways that Tim Burton and Matt Reeves created and treated Gotham. Both versions of Gotham like a real place that is believable. I think that approach to Gotham because Batman is a grounded character so a grounded Gotham fits with Batman. I think this is another example of progression of the genre and movies. Where Burton was very limited with the technology he had, so he wasn’t able to make Gotham feel as big. With 36 years, Reeves was able to make Gotham feel bigger. Gotham felt like a character in the movie and I think with the advancements of technology, Reeves was able to do that. This will sort of lead into the next point to talk about…

• REASON #4: The Villains: One of the great things about Batman is his Rogue’s Gallery. He has a great ensemble of villains that directors can cycle through. Both movies take one of Batman’s iconic villains and put them on the screen. Burton does Joker, played by Jack Nicholson. Reeves does The Riddler, played by Paul Dano. These are two of Batman’s most iconic villains and it’s fun to see them brought to the big screen. There’s this interesting connection between the villains and Batman in both movies. Both of them have a connection to Batman’s origins. One of the big reveals in Batman (1989), is that Jack Napier (Joker’s identity before he became a villain) killed Bruce Wayne’s parents. This is a parallel in the movie where Batman created Joker in Ace Chemicals. It provides this interesting dynamic going into the third act where they’re fighting the person who created them and turned them into the person they are today. Then Dano’s Riddler’s motivation starts from this idea that he was an orphan at the orphanage that the Wayne family owned. The reason why he’s killing these important people on Gotham is because he views the rich as these slugs who don’t do anything to help the city just themselves. This leads to Batman’s character arc in the movie. It’s this interesting connection between the villains of the movie. I tried to find interviews with Matt Reeves to see if there is any truth to him pulling that idea from Batman (1989) or if that was just a coincidence. Where they differ is with the amount of villains in the movie. Batman (1989) only as Joker as the villain. That was pretty common with Comic book movies if you'd get one villain per movie. It started to raise the question, where was Joker during Batman Begins or what was Bane up to during The Dark Knight. The Batman has multiple villains. So The Riddler is the main villain but Carmine Falcone, Penguin, and Catwoman are also present in the movie. It ties back into the idea of Gotham City feeling like a character. With there being more characters and villains in the story. You better understand Gotham’s history and it feels lived in. That aspect was limited in Batman (1989) when Joker was the only villain. Joker is a mob boss in Gotham City, so it would have been interesting for Carmine Falcone or another gangster type character to show up there.

• REASON #5: The Joker: Whenever discussing the Batman lore and franchise, you have to talk about Joker. We already did but I think there’s more to talk about with Joker. Joker is Batman’s arch nemesis. Throughout comic books, movies, video games, and tv shows, Joker has always been Batman’s #1 villain. Besides Val Kilmer and George Clooney, every adaptation of Batman has had a Joker they up gainist. I’ve talked about it several times already, but Michael Keaton had Jack Nicholson. You go throughout the decades, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, Ben Affleck, and Jared Leto. While Joker isn’t a prominent role in The Batman, we do get a cameo from Joker. This time played by Barry Keoghan. There was a little bit of frustration and disappointment with fans when that scene rolled around. Because people view Joker as played out. We’ve seen Joker so many times and Batman has a big rogues gallery to pull from. But they keep on going back to Joker. While I agree that there’s more villains to pull from. Joker is so iconic and is so tied to the Batman lore that you have to have Joker in there. It would be weird if we adapted Superman without Lex Luthor. Or Spider-Man without Green Goblin. Every Batman needs a Joker. Even though they teased Joker in this movie, I don’t think Joker will be heavily used in The Batman: Part II that we’re getting next year…oh wait a minute. I think Reeves is smart to know that people love Joker, but let’s wait. Let’s build up to the moment where Batman finally fights Joker. If they did Joker in the second movie as the villain, that will draw a lot of comparisons to The Dark Knight. I don’t think Reeves wants to do that. I bring all of this up, because in a lot of ways it started with Jack Nicholson’s Joker being in Batman (1989). If that version of the character wasn’t as iconic as it, it’ll be curious to see if Joker would be used in so many Batman movies. 

• REASON #6: The Score: This one isn’t as obvious of an influence as the other ones. But I think it’s important to talk, because the theme music for Batman across the media is great. The most iconic one would be Danny Elfman’s score for Burton’s movies. That music has been used in other Batman movies and video games. I used to play the LEGO Batman video games as a kid. That music was played in all of the games on the start menu. That’s how iconic that music is. Every composer after that has to find a way to find a score that compliments their Batman movie, but doesn’t copy Elfman’s score. Michael Giacchino scored The Batman, one of the great film composers of the last 20 years. He’s a frequent collaborator with Reeves. What I think works about each score we’ve gotten for Batman movies is they fit the movie they’re in. All of them are great for that reason. Giacchino's score would not work for Keaton’s Batman. Likewise, Elfman’s score would not work against Pattinson's Batman. That’s become so important as part of the Batman character. In both movies, there’s time where the scores play as a way to make Batman’s entrance feel epic. In both movies, there’s a scene where Batman drops down through a glass ceiling and the music plays. It’s this great moment because of the music. You look at that idea with those moments. All of Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies have this moment where the music plays to make Batman’s entrance or moments mean something. 

• REASON #7: Genre Expectations: The final one to talk about are the genre expectations. Batman (1989) was one of the most fundamental comic book movies out there. It cut the path for so many other comic book movies. That movie laid the foundation for what comic book movies tend to do, more importantly what Batman movies tend to do. To close this out, what are the genre expectations that Batman (1989) set that The Batman had to “follow”. One of the elements of the Batman lore that can provide for an entertaining sequence, the Batmobile. I believe in every Batman movie we’ve gotten a chase with the Batmobile. Batman (1989) delivers a fun Batmobile chase where Batman and Vicki Vale are chasing Joker’s goons. It’s a fun sequence, it’s fun to see Batman driving around in this fancy car. Matt Reeves’ delivers his Batmobile chase. That has a similar start point after an encounter with our villain, Batman chases them. Matt Reeves’ chase is a bit more cinematic because CGI and technology had progressed. The way that Reeves used the camera is more cinematic and dynamic. As something that we’ve talked about a lot in this post, but the progression of technology allowed for Reeves to do a lot of great things. You also expect a love interest for Batman. In both movies, there is a prominent love interest for Batman. One of the things that surprised me when I rewatched Batman (1989) is that Vicki Vale isn’t a damsel in distress character. She’s important to the plot, she’s doing a journalist investigation to help Batman defeat Joker. She’s not an annoying character or a character that’s just to be there. Then you have Catwoman with The Batman, who is once again just a strong character. She fights with Batman in the movie, she has her own arc and plot line going on. Batman movies do a pretty good job of giving us strong female characters that you care about. They’re not just a damsel in distress type character. 

Closing Thoughts: This was just a fun and interesting blog post for me to talk about Batman movies. As a lifelong Batman fan. Batman was my gateway into movie fandom, this was very cool. Through the characterization of Batman and Bruce Wayne, Gotham City, the villains, Joker, the music, and genre expectations there’s very clear ways in which Batman (1989) has influenced The Batman. You really do understand just how important Batman (1989) was for the genre. People have problems with the story and storytelling for Batman (1989), but there’s no denying just how important this movie was to the genre. The Batman is a highly celebrated comic book movie that made a lot of people on the best of 2022 lists. It’s my favorite movie of the decade so far. So much of why I love that movie is because it was able to build off the foundation of Batman (1989) and other Batman movies.