"Batman" isn't good vs. evil, but a showdown of freaks!? What was Tim Burton aiming for?

Tim Burton focuses on the dual nature of the hero

The film rights to Batman were originally sold to Hollywood in 1979, when Superman was a big hit in Japan. The project, adapted by screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz, who also worked on the original film, was shelved for many years, and although Joe Dante and Ivan Reitman were considered as possible directors, it never came to fruition.

Following "Superman," Warner Bros., the studio that would take the lead in adapting DC Comics into film, chose newcomer Tim Burton, who had enjoyed moderate success with his directorial debut, " Pee-wee's Big Adventure " (1985). However, they could not let the big-budget "Batman" end with only moderate success. So they decided to wait and see the results of Burton's second film, " Beetlejuice " (1988), which proved to be even more successful than its predecessor, and Burton was finally given the reins as director.

Burton had never been a fan of comics, but this project caught his interest. What attracted him the most was the character of Bruce Wayne/ Batman. Is spending a lot of money on equipment, wearing a custom-made costume, and fighting criminals really what a decent person would do? And what is the reason that he is not decent? Burton found interest in this and focused on the dual nature of all human beings, that is, the front and back, and constructed a story with screenwriter Sam Hamm.

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If the hero is not decent, there is no point in casting a typical tough guy. So Burton selected Michael Keaton, who played the Monster in Beetlejuice, to play Batman. As expected, this caused a backlash from fans of the original work. Why not a muscular actor? How could such a slender actor play the hero? However, that was Burton's aim. By having the slender Keaton transform into a hero in a muscular suit, he could emphasize the duality of the character. Thus, a hero who tends to frown and rarely smiles was created.

At the same time, in the world of comics, works with complex worldviews, rather than simply heroic works, were gaining popularity. In particular, the four-volume new Batman series " Batman: The Dark Knight Returns ," based on the original story by Frank Miller, overturned the image of conventional comics, was highly praised as a "thought-provoking work," and became a best-seller with over one million copies sold. This phenomenon was a tailwind for Burton to create his own style of dark-toned Batman.