Tim Burton was responsible for some of the most beloved superhero movies ever: 1989’s Batman and Batman Returns. He also came very close to making a Superman movie, Superman Lives, which was supposed to star Nicolas Cage, and fell apart right before shooting was about to begin. All of these projects are referenced in the recent DC film The Flash, including having Michael Keaton playing Batman and a Cage cameo as Superman.
Despite the obvious reverence the film has for Burton’s work, the director says he wasn’t really a fan of any of that. He spoke with BFI and discussed how he feels about major studios today, his history working on Superman and Batman, and many other things going on both personally and in the larger movie industry.
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Specifically, when asked about Superman’s cameo in The Flash, Burton said:
No, I don’t have regrets. I will say this: when you work that long on a project and it doesn’t happen, it affects you for the rest of your life. Because you get passionate about things, and each thing is an unknown journey, and it wasn’t there yet. But it’s one of those experiences that never leaves you, a little bi … but also it goes into another AI thing, and this is why I think I’m over it with the studio. They can take what you did, Batman or whatever, and culturally misappropriate it, or whatever you want to call it. Even though you’re a slave of Disney or Warner Brothers, they can do whatever they want. So in my latter years of life, I’m in quiet revolt against all this.
The Flash is currently available for streaming on Max.
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