It’s funny how the reasons for lead actors to leave a big franchise can range from ridiculously complicated, to astonishingly simple. Case in point when Michael Keaton explained his reasons for leaving the Batman franchise and not signing on for ‘Batman Forever’ in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
It seems that Keaton has nothing praise for the way that Tim Burton brought Batman to the big screen, and clearly enjoyed his time in the role.
The actor said:
“Yeah, I was glad. Are you kidding? I mean, who gets to play Batman? It was awesome! It goes down in film lore, film history. What Tim Burton did really reinvented how those modern day superheroes are done. He started a whole thing, and I was part of his pioneering venture.”
And when it came to Batman Forever, it’s just very apparent that new director Joel Schumacher and Keaton didn’t see eye to eye on how to move forward with the character.
“I knew it was in trouble when he [Schumacher] said, ‘Why does everything have to be so dark?”
Yikes.
What do you guys think of Michael Keaton’s reasons for leaving Batman? Do you think Batman Forever would’ve worked with him in the role? Sound off in the comments below!