Michael Keaton’s Batman Costume From Batgirl Becoming Halloween’s Biggest Trend?
Fans are noticing what may be Michael Keaton's planned costume from the cancelled Batgirl being sold as a Halloween costume.
Those Batman fans seeking to put an old school edge on their Halloween look this year may be in luck. Thanks to a post shared by Instagram user @actionfigureinsider, which you can see above, it looks as though Michael Keaton’s take on the caped crusader is making its return to costume shops everywhere. It’s been awhile, around three decades to be exact, since we saw Keaton don the iconic suit during his stint behind the wheel of the Batmobile in Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns.
But chances were high for us to have seen him in the role again prior to Halloween via the now canceled Batgirl.
And while Batgirl may not be the only feature in which Keaton’s Batman is making a return, as he’ll also appear in Warner Bros. Discovery’s upcoming DCEU flick, The Flash, the timing of the costume drop is bound to set off some alarms. With the Ezra Miller led flick not set to speed into theaters until summer 2023, it would be an odd and unlikely move on the part of the studio to release the suit in time for this year’s spooky festivities. Furthermore, since we haven’t so much as seen a grappling hook from the would-be-suit, it’s impossible to know exactly what the latest iteration will entail.
Things get even murkier when you consider the reason for Batgirl’s cancellation. To catch you up, the studio completed the film and was gearing up for its direct to HBO Max release before deciding to scrap it and give it the ol’ tax write off, giving the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery somewhere to the tune of $20 million. If the Batman costume is related to the release of Batgirl, then it would clash with that write off as the studio is legally unable to make a profit from anything related to the film.
Lucky for Warner Bros. Discovery, the world loves a good throw back and since the costume is one we know and love from the past, it’s bound to fly off the shelves even without more recent source material to be based on. Furthermore, it would be difficult to prove that the Batman piece is specifically from Batgirl as, again, we’ve seen it in Tim Burton’s darker visions of Gotham. Another look at the Instagram photo reveals that nowhere on the product does the title Batgirl appear, making it an easy way for Warner Bros. Discovery to earn an extra buck or two this Halloween season.
A shock to many, the studio behind Batgirl came forward two months ago to reveal that they would no longer be distributing the fully finished production. A star-studded affair, not only would the feature have seen Michael Keaton stepping back into the boots of Batman, but we would have also seen Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl, Brendan Fraser as Firefly, Ivory Aquino as Alysia Yeoh, and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon. Although the decision received a lot of pushback from both fans and those behind the production, the higher ups at Warner Bros. Discovery ultimately decided to shelve the completed project.
While Batman fans may be a bit surprised to see Michael Keaton’s old suit back on the shelves for Halloween this year, we’re thinking that with the popularity of the franchise and love of Keaton’s tenure as the Dark Knight, stores won’t have any problem pushing the merchandise.
