Tim Burton’s Batman successfully reinvented the superhero film and wound up being one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. Warner Bros was desperate for a sequel, but this time Burton wouldn’t have to work under the close supervision of producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber, who’d since left the studio. Virtually given carte blanche, the resulting film, 1992’s Batman Returns would be a much darker, holiday set tale that would feature the Caped Crusader (played by a returning Michael Keaton) going up against Danny DeVito’s hideous The Penguin.
At the same time, the movie would be dominated by Michelle Pfeiffer’s tragic anti-heroine, Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman. The violent, dark film outraged parents in 1992 and led WB to virtually reboot the franchise with Joel Schumacher at the helm. Still, thirty years later, Batman Returns is considered a masterpiece. It’s reputation has grown and grown, and it’s not only considered a landmark superhero film, but unexpectedly also a Christmas classic that rivals Die Hard for some. All of these years later, Michelle Pfeiffer remains the definitive onscreen Catwoman, although she’s about to get some major competition for Zoe Kravitz in The Batman. Join us on this episode of DC Revisited as we dig into this classic.
This episode of DC Films Revisited was written, edited and narrated by Tyler Nichols. Chris Bumbray and Adam Walton produce, while Berge Garabedian is the executive producer. Check out previous episodes below and let us know what you think of Batman Returns (1992) in the comments!
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