20 Things You Didn't Know About Batman Returns

Batman has never been the most conversational of protagonists, often trading deep, meaningful, interactions and impassioned monologues for baritone grunts, thousand-yard stares, and the odd uppercut to a goon's jaw.

But even taking into consideration the usual monosyllabic tendencies of his character, Keaton still felt that the Dark Knight was being a tad on the chatty side, and cut roughly half of his lines from the script.

To be fair to the actor, the decision worked, and helped to cultivate a more mysterious, brooding image than we might otherwise have been treated too.

That being said, there's every chance that Mike was just trying to cut his workload down too. According to the man himself, he has never watched the film back, and only took the gig because he needed the reported $10 million fee he was paid to help close a real estate deal at the time - stands to reasons that he want to cut his homework down a little bit too.

Artistic choice or pragmatic masterstroke, you decide.