Renowned filmmaker Tim Burton slammed Warner Bros and the entire Batman franchise in an interview and pointed out how the studio made nasty remarks about him and his version of the famed superhero in 1992’s Batman Returns.
The franchise was an immense success, though Burton’s project was considered bizarre and even “kinky” especially with Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman wearing skintight vinyl, corset, and spiked heels with a whip in one hand. While some fans appreciated the suggestive tones, others deemed it strange.
Tim Burton Cursed At Warner Bros For Calling Him “Too Weird, Too Dark”
During the 30th anniversary of Batman Returns, filmmaker Tim Burton spoke with Empire magazine and lambasted Warner Bros as well as the franchise for calling his movie “too weird” only to design later on a new Bat-suit with nipples on it:
“[Back then] they went the other way. That’s the funny thing about it. But then I was like, ‘Wait a minute. Okay. Hold on a second here. You complain about me, I’m too weird, I’m too dark, and then you put nipples on the costume? Go f—k yourself.’ Seriously. So yeah, I think that’s why I didn’t end up [doing a third film].”
As Burton looked back on his time working on the Batman franchise, he reflected on the signature darkness of the character and what it truly meant for him:
“I’m not just overly dark. That represents me in the sense that… that’s how I see things. It’s not meant as pure darkness. There’s a mixture. I feel really fondly about it because of the weird experiment that it felt like.”
After Matt Reeves’ version of The Batman starring Robert Pattinson came out, Burton could not help but think about how the character still had more depths to explore:
“It is funny to see this now because all these memories come back of, ‘It’s too dark,’ so it makes me laugh a little bit.”
Tim Burton has already stepped away from the realm of Batman, but that did not stop him from expressing more of his dark gothic style in filmmaking. He previously directed Netflix’s Wednesday starring Jenna Ortega and is now set to helm the upcoming fantasy comedy film Beetlejuice 2.
RELATED: Tim Burton’s Cancelled Batman 3: What Could Have Been (VIDEO)
Joel Schumacher Explains Where The Bat-Nipples Idea Came From
The cursed Bat-nipples of George Clooney in Batman & Robin (1997) have become the subject of ridicule for many years, and director Joel Schumacher apologized for it in his interview with Vice:
“Look, I apologize. I want to apologize to every fan that was disappointed because I think I owe them that.”
He explained how he came up with the idea of adding embellishment to Batman’s costume, which he believed was inspired by the mythology of Batman in DC Comics:
“By the time Batman Forever came around, rubber molding had become so much more advanced. So I said, let’s make it anatomical, and gave photos of those Greek statues and those incredible anatomical drawings you see in medical books. He did the nipples, and when I looked at them, I thought, that’s cool.”
Schumacher did not expect that such a small detail would haunt him forever. Although he already apologized to fans, he claimed that he did not regret the decision.
Batman movies are available on Amazon Prime.
