The Flash director on why Bruce Wayne quit being Batman

Last Updated on August 3, 2023

When we first meet Bruce Wayne in The Flash, it has been many years since he last suited up as Batman. The reason behind this choice is never explicitly revealed, but The Flash director Andy Muschietti has his own explanation.

“I always said something should have happened to Bruce Wayne to want to stop being Batman,” Andy Muschietti said in a featurette for The Flash. “And my idea was he did something that goes against his code. He killed a criminal in front of this child. Unknowingly, but he still did it. Which is an exact mirroring situation of what happened to him when his parents were killed in front of the Monarch Theater, and that created that ‘monster’ that Batman is. And so he just couldn’t cope with it, and that’s why he decided to shut off his other side, Batman.“

Andy Muschietti continued, “And he hasn’t been able to forgive himself, and now the way we find him is a bit of an evolution of that journey. He’s a tragic figure, he’s basically a character that is in search of redemption but eventually finds a way to do it by helping Barry.” As wonderful as it was to see Michael Keaton back as Batman in The Flash, I wish the film had been able to spend more time on moments such as this. As The Flash has become quite the box-office bomb for Warner Bros., it’s probably safe to say we won’t be revisiting this story anytime soon.

“Worlds collide in The Flash when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past,” reads the official synopsis of The Flash. “But when his attempt to save his family inadvertently alters the future, Barry becomes trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are no Super Heroes to turn to. That is, unless Barry can coax a very different Batman out of retirement and rescue an imprisoned Kryptonian… albeit not the one he’s looking for. Ultimately, to save the world that he is in and return to the future that he knows, Barry’s only hope is to race for his life. But will making the ultimate sacrifice be enough to reset the universe?“

You can check out a review of The Flash from our own Chris Bumbray right here. The Flash is currently available on Digital and will be released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on August 29th.