and Burton’s previous movie,, in which the star played the title role of a prankster apparition much closer in anarchic spirit to Batman’s archnemesis, the Joker. How was this cutup going to convince as a creature of the night, striking fear in the heart of hoodlums?
Such worries would prove unwarranted. Burton may not have been much of a comic-book fan, traditionally speaking, but his vision forthan it was to West’s divisive tenure in the tights. Perhaps that’s one reason fans came around to Keaton. Or maybe they just needed to actually see him in costume and in action. An early press still, showing off the cumbersome but cosmetically appealing Batsuit, is sometimes credited for turning the tide and assuaging some fears.
If there’s a through-line in these instances of fan chilliness, it’s a masculine paranoia. Wasn’t that the big issue with Keaton all along, that he wasn’t macho enough?and Burton’s weirder, nastier, superior sequel find light humor in a rich aristocrat trying to balance his life in the public eye with his crime-fighting duty.