10 Positives Joel Schumacher Actually Brought To Batman Movies

2. He Accepted Burton's Batman

Not many writers or directors may necessarily be willing to accept or even to acknowledge the work of their predecessors when they adopt a franchise partway through. However, even though Schumacher’s tone varied drastically from Burton’s, he did not purely write Burton’s films off.

For example, in Batman Forever, Dr. Chase Meridian flirts with Val Kilmer’s Batman on the rooftop of Gotham City Police Headquarters, observing that he likes “strong women”, and asks him if he would find her more attractive if she were to adopt “skintight vinyl and a whip”.

Inverting the issue in Batman & Robin, when he is cornered in the basement of Mr. Freeze’s lair by the voluptuous Poison Ivy, who is intent on poisoning him with her kiss, Clooney’s Batman laments “Why are all the gorgeous ones homicidal maniacs? Is it me?!?”. These are both clear references to Catwoman in Batman Returns.

Also in Batman Forever, Schumacher shot a beautifully atmospheric film noir-style flashback to the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents in Crime Alley that not only recalled the comic mythology, but also closely recalled the murder sequence that Tim Burton filmed for Batman.

A lot of this may actually have arisen because the original plan was for Michael Keaton to return in the lead role in Batman Forever, but departed at a relatively late stage of pre-production when Keaton withdrew, meaning that the references were already contained in the script. It was therefore illogical not to have continuity between Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, given that Schumacher, Warner Brothers and the toy companies knew the sort of Batman films that they wished to portray onscreen.