“Why are you so short?”

Three decades after his lead role in ‘Batman Returns’, Michael Keaton (71) returns as Batman in ‘The Flash’. How is that possible, since Ben Affleck is Velertje these days? In the latest blockbuster from DC Studios, The Flash travels back in time to save his parents and ends up in a parallel universe where Bruce Wayne always looks like Michael Keaton.

Michael Keaton “After all this time, I was curious what it would be like to wear the Batman suit again. Strange, it didn’t seem strange. It was just familiar.”

– Robert Pattinson played Batman in ‘The Batman’ last year, while you and Ben Affleck played Batman in ‘The Flash’. Are you still figuring it out?

Keaton “God no. val kilmer, George Clooney, Keanu Reeves, Christian Bale: Now we have so many batmen we could set up a union (laughs). As if the Batman story wasn’t complicated enough, I’m in Marvel movies too – as a villain! So I am the only actor who is in both the franchises.”

– Wrong! Idris Elba, Ryan Reynolds and Michelle Pfeiffer, among others, have come before you, Michael.

Keaton “Oops. Now, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more modern superhero movie. On the set of ‘The Flash’ I even asked, ‘Hey, when are Spider-Man and Hulk coming out?’ Then someone had to take me aside: ‘Uh, Michael, those two superheroes are with our rival Marvel.’ Not kidding.”

– Director Andy Muschietti recalls a beautiful moment on the set of ‘The Flash’: ‘When Michael got back in his Batman suit for the first time, he asked me to take a picture for his grandson. It means something to him.

Keaton “I’m trying to convince my grandson that Batman is cool too. He’s crazy about Spider-Man and thinks Batman’s a moron, that’s why. “Why do you have such short hair?” He also asks me regularly. To which I answer: “Why are you so small?”

After you were cast by Tim Burton for the lead role in 1989’s Batman, producer Warner Bros. Buried under 50,000 angry letters.

Keaton “I found that controversy amazing: It’s about a fictional character in a movie, isn’t it? Anyway, we didn’t let that get the better of us – we knew we were onto something special. And the positive response to my return as Batman proves we were right, doesn’t it?”

‘The Flash’ is now playing in theaters.