Michael Keaton Discusses 'Batman' Transition and Why He Rejected Multi-Million Dollar Offer

The legendary "Batman" pioneer actor Michael Keaton has put all other Batmans in their places when he mentioned that he is not jealous or insecure of the next man to wear the "cape."

This started when Christian Bale revealed his secret insecurity upon seeing Ben Affleck wear the Batman cape.

"When I heard there was someone else doing it, there was a moment where I just stopped and stared into nothing for half an hour," Bale told Empire magazine. "I'm jealous of someone else playing Batman. I think I should have gotten over it by now."

So, when Short List interviewed Keaton, they made sure he answer to this question too, and his response was simple and profound.

"No. Do you know why? Because I'm Batman. I'm very secure in that," he said.

On the other hand, Keaton rejected a $15 million offer to play Batman again because, as he said, "it sucked."
He originally starred in "Batman" and "Batman Returns" while Tim Burton directed. He said that when the "Batman" was transitioned to Joel Schumacher everything changed and "it just was awful!"

He added that Schumacher's efforts to transform "Batman" into a family-friendly show lost the Batman brand. Batman was known to have a dark side that makes the twists in the stories interesting. However, Christopher Nolan came back in 2005's "Batman Begins" and the franchise was revived.

Since superhero movies are powerful in the movie industry, Keaton was asked in an interview with Entertainment Weekly regarding his thoughts about going back. He said he would but in one condition.

"If it was Tim Burton directing? In a heartbeat. Tim, in the movies, really invented the whole dark-superhero thing. He started everything, and some of the guys who have done these movies since then don't say that, and they're wrong," said Keaton.