ZingW

This article contains spoilers for “The Flash.”

Beyond being yet another multiversal superhero tale, “The Flash” is a chance to examine the emotional impact of the Batmen in your life.

Just where we are in the current state of Batman at the movies perhaps only DC Studios co-head James Gunn knows for sure, but rare is the film that allows you to see so many bats on the screen at once. Granted, there’s no Christian Bale under the watchful eyes of director Christopher Nolan and a Hans Zimmer score. The bold blondness of Val Kilmer is not reexamined, perhaps because he met his cameo quota in the most recent “Top Gun.” Robert Pattinson’s Batman is likely to remain a solo act unless he gets a Robin. And if you’re looking for Gunn’s soon-to-be-anointed Batman, nice try, but that’s not happening here just yet. What we do get are both the best and most frustrating versions of cinematic Batmen. Michael Keaton. And Ben Affleck. With one extra surprise Batman at the end for good measure. (We’ll get to him in a second.)

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Keaton’s Batman is in top form, despite a three-decade gap since his last bat-signal answered. His Bruce Wayne is gray-haired and quirky as ever. Especially in the kitchen, of all places. Who knew spaghetti could teach you about the multiverse? Despite the initial awkwardness of seeing his Batman in a world not visually constructed by Tim Burton, and hearing him say words such as “Superman” and talk about alternate timelines, the all-black-with-a-dash-of-yellow bat-suit still fits him like a glove and fills those who have missed the G.O.A.T. Batman with a joy that will make you want to party like it’s 1989.

Keaton’s abrupt departure from the Batman movie franchise in the early ’90s was the fanboy pain of my youth that shattered me whole. I can remember exactly where I was when I heard the announcement. I was with my great-grandmother, who was listening to news radio. (Like I said, I was with my great-grandmother.) I tried to explain to her how my life had just been ruined before I was old enough to drive, but somehow, she didn’t get it.

You had to respect Keaton’s dedication to the role he had crafted over “Batman” and “Batman Returns.” He saw that his version of the Dark Knight was nowhere to be found in what Joel Schumacher had planned for 1995’s “Batman Forever.” So Keaton bat-bounced. Leaving the bat-franchise meant no reunions with Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. No Black boy wonder by his side (it was rumored Marlon Wayans would have played Robin eventually) and no chance for a trilogy (a moment only Bale’s Batman achieved).

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The pain of all that what-ifing for those of us who still listen to Danny Elfman’s “Batman” score when we drive to Costco shockingly subsides when you once again gaze at Keaton as the bat in high definition on a big screen in “The Flash.” Is it his best bat-performance? No. Nothing is 1989. And nothing ever will be. But it is impossible to deny the feeling of I thought I’d never get to see this again.

It has been reported that if “The Flash” does well enough at the box office, then Keaton could return as Batman in a sequel. Getting his own solo bat-movies directed by Burton might be too much ’80s baby wishful thinking. But hey, aren’t Keaton and Burton about to make another “Beetlejuice” movie? One can dream.

The Batman who won’t be getting another movie is Affleck, who says goodbye to the role in “The Flash” with yet another bat-cameo. Affleck hangs up his cape and cowl as the only cinematic Batman to never have his own movie. Instead, he was relegated to bat-purgatory during DC’s Zack Snyder-led attempts to replicate Marvel Studios’ interconnective team-up experience.

Affleck’s Batman felt like an NFL first-round bust. All the tools for success seemed in his possession. But he couldn’t get it done on the field. That’s more an indication of where DC was in terms of its leadership at the time than Affleck’s ability as an actor. Affleck looked like a Frank Miller drawing from “The Dark Knight Returns” comics come to life, with his short ears on his mask and a giant black bat spread across his chest, but the magic of that grizzled, older and tired vigilante from the page was never fully replicated on-screen.

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Affleck’s brief Batman appearance in “The Flash” feels more like an apology than an affirmation. Combining a Batman with the other superpowers of the DC universe on film in live action isn’t as easy as it looks. But Affleck did his best. It’s like that one Batman once said, “This is why Superman works alone.”

And speaking of that guy …

Holy secret cameos, Batman! George Clooney is in “The Flash”? Yes, that George Clooney. The regrettable star of 1997’s “Batman & Robin,” the movie that almost ended superhero movies for good. Arguably the worst Batman movie and maybe the worst superhero movie of all time. Kudos to “The Flash” filmmakers for realizing a multiverse tale could include a blip that brings Clooney back as Bruce Wayne, if only for a few very funny seconds.

Clooney’s Batman of the late ’90s never stood a chance, despite his star power. Warner Bros. wanted a family-friendly toy-making machine for its fourth Batman movie, and the price of that was Clooney’s superhero credibility. But watching “The Flash,” you have to admire that he still has enough of a sense of humor to say, “Sure, I’ll play along in this game.” Of course, if you’re going to have that kind of confidence, it helps to be George Clooney.

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As he stands in front of Ezra Miller in “The Flash’s” final scene, the moment serves as a possible sequel-maker. The Flash’s super-speed has messed up time again. Clooney is not this Flash’s Bruce Wayne. This new multiverse boo-boo is a potential reason to watch the Flash zoom through the timestream in another movie to try to fix it.

But the scene is also a reminder of one constant: No matter how good, or how bad, there will always be a Batman at the movies.

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