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Boy, this brings me back to when my brother first showed me Alex Ross artwork and it absolutely fueled my imagination on Marvel Comics translated to the big screen. I remember being so lit up when I first saw footage of Spider-Man web-swinging in the teaser. It looked EXACTLY like Marvels! My favorite one in the whole franchise is the final web-swing at the end of the first. Absolutely jaw dropping to this day! We're supposed to get a rerelease of the films next month in April and I can't wait to experience that scene again.

At the time Raimi's approach to the swinging seemed so innovative. The idea of the camera keeping up with Spidey to give you the feeling of swinging with him was amazing.

I also can't wait to check out the Raimi trilogy again in theaters. Haven't seen 1 and 3 like that since they were released.

I also feel like Vicki figured out Bruce Wayne was Batman, came to the manor and told Alfred and Alfred figured "now that she knows"

Indeed. The scene with Vicki and Knox studying the old newspapers was the moment it clicked for her. The amazing thing about B89 is how it all came together as if it was meant to be despite any issues they encountered on set or through the script. Having the final Bruce/Vicki conversation outside of the cave wouldn't have had the same gravitas. She met Batman in the cave earlier, and then Bruce in the same location. I like that contrast.

This is what I was saying on the recent interview thread. From everything we know about the script constantly changing and shooting during a writers strike, this movie should've been a disaster.

An obese Alfred isn't unheard of. I am surprised that it has more of a 30's aesthetic to it than the animated series did.

There was a YouTube video of Burton being interviewed in which he confirmed this theory, but unfortunately the interview in question has been taken down. Burton stated that Vicki already knew Bruce was Batman before she went to Wayne Manor, having figured it out during the scene where Knox shows her the newspaper detailing the Wayne murders.

I saw that video. It's a shame it's no longer around. But what he said in that video about leaving things implied and vague falls in line with the storytelling of the film. There are multiple points in the movie where it hints at what's about to happen rather than showing you. "Get me Lt. Eckhart" and "Alfred, let's go shopping" are both examples of this.

I guess the opponents of that point of view would then argue, okay but why does Bruce chastise Alfred for "letting Vicki Vale into the Batcave" in Batman Returns? 

Because Returns was written by somebody that hated the original film.

The more I hear about the evolution of the Batman '89 script, the more I realise how important the other writers were. Hamm gets most of the credit, and indeed he did compose the basic structure of the first two acts, but it sounds like many of the best elements came from other writers. How many people altogether worked on the Batman '89 screenplay? Sam Hamm, Jonathan Gems, Charles McKeown, Warren Skaaren and even Jack Nicholson by the sound of it.

It really is a miracle that this movie wasn't a complete disaster. Making a big movie is no easy task, but trying to shoot one in the middle of a writers strike usually leads to ruin. We've seen this with X-Men Origins Wolverine and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It really is a credit to the credited writers, the uncredited writers, the cast, Burton, and even Jon Peter's (to a certain extent) that it turned out as well as it did.

It's also interesting to hear that Skarren was brought in after the strike had ended. So now I'm curious as to why Skarren was brought in instead of getting Sam Hamm back.

I'm also curious to know who came up with the Bob character. He's not in Hamm's original draft. Whoever invented the idea of Joker killing him like he does in the film really understood the Joker character.

Thank you for the interview, and posting this.

Very fascinating read! With the whole Tim Burton/Jon Peters deal, my takeaway is that it makes Tim come across as enduring to some extent, as apparently Tim had to deal with Jon Peters who clearly wanted to throw his weight around during the production. With Tim being sympathetic towards random crew, whom clearly at that time were emotional about having just been fired, and taking it upon himself to rehire them on the spot.

As a director, and it's fair to say newcomer at that, with more than enough on his plate to deal with, having to deal with Peters' backlashes on staff must have been quietly frustrating.

Peters is definitely a character. As he came across as cartoonishly boastful in the "Superman Lives" documentary, and I remember the portrayal of Jon Peters in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Licorice Pizza" wasn't exactly flattering either.

It's interesting to me that Peters gave Burton all of this grief on Batman, and yet he was willing to work with him again on Superman. I wonder if they had made up in the intervening years.

I know Peter/Gubers names are on Batman Returns, but they clearly didn't have much involvement with it. I'd always assumed that was at Burton's request, but I have nothing to back that up.

[Some of the more interesting points I found talking with him... it seems that Kim Basinger & Jon Peters (or possibly Nicholson!) were probably the ones responsible for Alfred "letting Vicki into the cave."]

Thank you very much for sharing this interview with us!

Thank you for being very thorough in asking these questions as we look forward to your conclusion!

You're very welcome. I wanted some more insight in '89 Batman than we've been able to get in the past. Some of the more interesting points I found talking with him... it seems that Kim Basinger & Jon Peters (or possibly Nicholson!) were probably the ones responsible for Alfred "letting Vicki into the cave." (My thoughts on that were that Alfred didn't let her in, that she had figured it out, but I digress).

Also it was surprising to hear that Tom Cruise had the part of Edward Scissorhands in the bag... then turned his back on it when Tim Burton said Edward was gay. 

I'm working on the third and final part of the interview. I should've done it at as a podcast so I wouldn't have to type all this out! 

I'd read another version as well. In the Michael Keaton interview that Rolling Stone did in 89 they mentioned that it was Keaton's idea to have that scene in the Batcave. It was originally going to take place somewhere in Wayne Manor.

I'm with you though. I caught on to her putting the pieces together once she discovers his parents were murdered. I'm not sure why this has since been turned into a big deal. I'm also glad that they cut a scene of Bruce telling her he's Batman. I think Vicki figuring that out on her own is much more in line with the character.

I'm curious to know how Robin was eventually cut out of the film if he was initially a studio mandate.

Interesting read. There are a lot of tidbits in here that I didn't know about. This finally answered a question I've had for years which was whose idea was it to cast Keaton? I'd heard versions where it was Tim's idea and other versions where it was the Producer's idea. Also, interesting to know that the studio was against the casting as well.

All this time I thought the casting of Nicholson came from either Michael Uslan or Jon Peter's/Peter Guber. I had no idea that it was Tim that was really pushing for it.

Finally, it's so interesting that many more sets were built for Gotham that weren't used. I'd love to see some pictures of the unused portions of the city. I know the 89 film gets criticized for reusing the same portions of Gotham, but that seems to be a deliberate choice.

There are two references to Batman Forever that I came across. One was in Batman Confidential 4 where Batman parks the Batplane upside down like the Batwing in Forever.



As far as I know Forever was the first time that Robin was given gauntlets similar to Batman's. In May 2006 after Infinite Crisis Tim Drake's new suit also incorporated these gauntlets. This is the first time I've come across a Robin suit with that feature in the comics. If anyone has an earlier example please let me know.



In Batman Confidential 7 one of Batman's early vehicles is shown to be a tank. The design seemed to be inspired by the Tumbler from Begins. This is the first time I've seen that design implemented into the comics.


In Batman Confidential 8 Batman gives Joker a Glasgow Smile. This issue came out in December of 2007. I think it's definitely inspired by Ledger's look in Dark Knight.

Doesn't the noose thing go back to The New Batman Adventures?

Yes it does. I'm not saying that Begins invented the noose for Sacrecrow. However, I am saying that this comic changed the design to be closer to the way he looked in Begins. Other than the mask and noose nothing about that redesign in the comic looks like Scarecrow. It's the same thing in Begins, the mask with the noose around the neck is the defining costume trait that makes him Scarecrow.

In Detective Comics 820 Scarecrow's design has also changed. He's now wearing a Scarecrow mask with a noose. Clearly inspired by the characters design in Begins.

This is speculative on my part but I thought the cowl on the cover of Detective Comics resembled the Batman Begins cowl.


In Detective Comics 815 the appearance of Zsaz is changed. He's now bald with brown eye brows. Since this comic was made in 2006 I can only assume that this change was influenced by Zsaz's look in Begins.