Michael Keaton reveals he turned down Batman Forever because “it sucked”

Michael Keaton is opening up a bit more about why he turned down the opportunity to reprise his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever – and he doesn’t mince his words.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Keaton says he saw the script and that “it sucked.” He then had this to say about Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher, who took over for Tim Burton:

"I knew it was in trouble," Keaton said, "when he [Schumacher] said, 'Why does everything have to be so dark?'"

Keaton famously played the dark knight in the original 1989 Batman and 1992's Batman Returns before Val Kilmer took over in Batman Forever. The third film ended up being a box office success with more than $336 million worldwide despite its critical lashing.

It was ultimately the next Schumacher-led Batman film, Batman and Robin, that led to the long standing hibernation of silver screen Batman films until Christopher Nolan’s reboot in 2005 with Batman Begins.

Michael Keaton will back in superhero action when he plays The Vulture in the upcoming Spider Man: Homecoming, which hits theaters July 7, 2017.

But hey. Batman Forever isn’t all that bad. At least we got Seal’s Kiss From A Rose.

[THR]