Michael Keaton has returned to blockbusters in a big way over the last couple of years, but it turns out he was reluctant to return to his greatest role. Like in general.
Michael Keaton was famously an unconventional choice to play the lead role in the film directed by Tim Burton. Batman (1989). DC Comics fans sent letters of protest to a nervous Warner Bros., and tabloids openly wondered why an actor best known for light comedies like Mister Mom (1983) and Johnny Danger (1984) was cast as the Dark Knight.
Then Batman became one of the highest-grossing films in history and is now considered a benchmark in the evolution of superhero film adaptations. Michael Keaton reprized the role of Bruce Wayne in Batman returns (1992) before hanging up his hood for decades until it was his turn Flasha film that is also a benchmark in the history of superhero films for being the worst film ever.
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However, critics and fans should have known even before The Batman was released why Tim Burton chose Michael Keaton to play his grim night vigilante: his previous performance in Beetle juice (1988), a dark supernatural comedy starring Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis.
Michael Keaton is also returning as Beetlejuice (or Betelgeuse, if you’re wondering) in the upcoming sequel, but according to Tim Burton, the actor wasn’t interested in playing the character again.
In a recent interview with the British Film Institute, Tim Burton said that Michael Keaton was basically indifferent to the idea Beetlejuice 2saying, “He didn’t want to do it (initially)—he didn’t necessarily have a burning desire.”
Luckily for all the fans of supernatural horror comedies, it turns out that the man behind it… Edward Scissorhands (1990) is quite convincing. Burton continued by saying that the film’s production “reminded me of the old days when there was this crazy stuff going on on set. I was quite shocked at how easily he managed to get it back. It was like being possessed by demons.”
Regardless of how Michael Keaton felt about returning to his greatest role, Warner Bros Discovery hopes that Beetlejuice 2 will be the hit he deeply needs. Beetlejuice 2 It will star Keaton and fellow returning stars Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara as Lydia and Delia Deetz.
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The film will also star Tim Burton’s recent muse Jenna Ortega as the daughter of Winona Ryder’s character and likely Beetlejuice’s new target. The film will also star Willem Dafoe and Justin Theroux in undisclosed roles, and Monica Bellucci will play Beetlejuice’s wife.
Tim Burton described a new Beetle juice sequel as a film about Jenna Ortega, which makes sense considering she’s quickly becoming one of the most famous horror stars in the world, and about family, which makes a little less sense, but ok. We’re just glad Michael Keaton is back, even if he didn’t want it at first.
Are you excited for Jenna Ortega to star in the film? Beetle juice movie? Is Beetlejuice really about family, or what did Tim Burton mean by it? Let us know in the comments below!