Michael Keaton in talks to return as Batman after 28 years

Actor previously played the role in ‘Batman’ and ‘Batman Returns’

Michael Keaton is reportedly in talks to reprise the role of Batman in the forthcoming The Flash film.

The actor previously played the title character in Tim Burton‘s Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992).

The Flash will focus on the lightning-quick superhero played by Ezra Miller, who made his debut in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and appeared again in Justice League.

According to reports, the plot will ignore the two films that followed Batman Returns, the Joel Schumacher-directed Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. The story will be based on the 2011 comic Flashpoint, in which The Flash travels back in time to save his mother’s life.

If the talks prove successful, this will be the first time Keaton has played the caped crusader since 1992. In recent years, he has appeared as the Marvel supervillain The Vulture in 2017’s Spider-man: Homecoming, and as an actor best known for playing a batman-like superhero in Birdman in 2014.

Since Keaton left the Batman franchise, a number of other actors have stepped in to play the caped crusader, to varying levels of acclaim, including Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck.

Robert Pattinson is set to be the next actor to take up the mantel, when he stars in Matt Reeves’s The Batman.

Affleck’s Batman will also be returning to screens on HBO Max, as it was revealed that director Zack Snyder has been given the go-ahead to re-edit Justice League into a longer cut. Fans had been demanding the release of the so-called “Snyder Cut” since the film’s original premiere.