Fans were well aware of the implications of this, considering that Ezra Miller's Flash character had his own contemporary verison of the Batman to work with in the form of Ben Affleck, and DC was working on yet another version of the character being played by Robert Pattinson.
Keaton, however, was less than prepared at understanding just how his 1989 version of Gotham's Dark Knight would be returning to cinema screens alongside Affleck's contemporary rendition.
"I had to read it more than three times to go, 'Wait, how does this work?' They had to explain that to me several times. By the way, I'm not being arrogant, I hope, about this. I don't say it like, 'I'm too groovy.' I'm stupid. There's a lot of things I don't know about. And so, I don't know, I just kind of figured it out, but this was different."
The confusion on Keaton's part is understandable given that The Flash will be partially adapting the "Flashpoint" storyline from the comics. In it, the story revolves around time travel and the creation of a new/alternate timeline with its own branching universe leading into a multiverse of stories where different versions of the same character can exist.
It's a lot to take in for those new to it, but in Keaton's case it also became a humbling experience. This new approach to his character, and how he's being brought back, really opened up his eyes to the weight of it all and just how much his character means to a lot of people.
"What's really interesting is how much more I got [Batman] when I went back and did him. I get this on a whole other level now. I totally respect it. I repsect what people are trying to make. I never looked at it like, 'Oh, this is just a silly thing.' It was not a silly thing when I did Batman. But it has become a giant thing, culturally. It's iconic. So I just have even more respect for it because, what do I know? This is a big deal in the world to people. You've got to honor that and be respectful of that. Even I go, Jesus, this is huge."
The Flash is currently still in production with a release date set for November 4, 2022. ~Paolo Maquiraya