New Novel ‘Batman: Resurrection’ Revisits Tim Burton’s Gotham City

For years, DC fans have wondered why director Tim Burton never returned to make a third Batman film with Michael Keaton in the titular role. The answer, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s 2017 oral history of Batman Returns, is simple: The studio wanted a more family-friendly creative behind the camera, and Burton’s sophomore outing in Gotham City was decidedly too dark.

While Keaton’s iconic iteration of Bruce Wayne would get one more blockbuster go-around in 2023’s The Flash (well, technically two more go-arounds if you count the shelved Batgirl movie), his reprisal only renewed the discourse of what a full Burton-helmed Batman trilogy might have looked like.

Fortunately, die-hard devotees of the Caped Crusader’s cinematic history can, at least, find peace, because we’re finally getting a third adventure in the Burtonverse by way a new novel — Batman: Resurrection (on sale from Random House tomorrow). Set between the events of Batman and Batman Returns, the book written by author John Jackson Miller explores the aftermath of the Joker’s death.

“There’s a resurgence of interest in The Joker, as his cult of personality takes hold,” Miller tells me over email. “There’s a certain down-on-his-luck actor whose body is terribly transformed. There are other hidden forces at work, which Batman has yet to discover. Most disquieting of all for him, is the possibility that events in the Gotham Cathedral were not as they seemed — and that maybe, just maybe, his greatest enemy might have pulled the king of all practical jokes, on both Batman and Gotham City. There’s a lot of mysteries for Bruce to solve!”

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Wait, did he just tease the arrival of Clayface? Because it sure sounds a heck of a lot like he just teased the arrival of Clayface! Readers will just have to find out for themselves, but the author promises that “with every member of Batman’s rogues’ gallery that we introduce, we worked hard to keep the depiction consistent with what we saw in the original two movies. It should all feel part of the same macabre piece.”

Whatever fresh elements Resurrection ends up adding to the canon, fans can rest easy, knowing they’re in very good hands. Miller is no novice when it comes to being handed the keys to a beloved IP. With a resumé full of tie-in stories for the Star Trek and Star Wars universes, as well as a comics run on Marvel’s Iron Man, the seasoned scribe knows a thing or two about digging in hallowed sandboxes.

“I was such a fan of the films when they came out, I would have been completely consumed with envy had I not gotten the offer,” he says, taking the time to thank editor Tom Hoeler for offering him the job of a lifetime. “Envy is how a lot of supervillain origin stories start, so I’m glad I got the call! I wasn’t intimidated by it, because the original two films — and the performances there — were my guiding stars all along. If something felt like it was more suited to a different screen Batman, I didn’t include it. Part of my job is making sure the work feels like what we’re tying into.”

Naturally, the most important objective of all was staying true to Burton’s anti-playboy depiction of Bruce Wayne, who enjoys a more active role “in Gotham City’s civic life, whether it’s working to save the Bicentennial celebration or stop Max Shreck’s power plant. Our Bruce Wayne is as active as our Batman,” he notes.

A corollary to that is Keaton’s “unique” dynamic with Michael Gough, who played Bruce’s loyal butler and pseudo-father figure, Alfred Pennyworth, in the Burton and Schumacher films. “The paternal guidance is there, but we sense that Alfred is an active player in Batman’s operations,” Miller says. “These are things we explore in some depth.”

When Miller says he’s a mega-fan of 1989’s Batman, you better believe it. Why? because he’s got the 12 ticket stubs to back up the claim, that’s why! He has no qualms confessing that Keaton’s Dark Knight is his “all-time favorite Batman in any medium.” Not only did he see the film in theaters a dozen times, but he also owned “the novelizations and the scripts from back in the day. So much was already memorized, but I did find it useful to go back and rewatch scenes to confirm my recollections. It was helpful when it came, for example, to seeing whether certain henchmen were still around for use.”

His main areas of research concerned the practices of municipal civil servants (think cops and firefighters) and the period-specific trappings of Gotham City, circa the late 1980s. “I needed to back things up a bit so it fit the 1989 aesthetic — and there was another case where minute study of the films came in handy,” he explains. “It was useful knowing what technologies were available not just in 1989, but also within the Gotham City that we’re shown.”

And speaking of technology, Miller wastes no time in reminding readers that this version of Batman is still in the process of field-testing his nifty gadgets:

“When Alfred laments in Batman Returns that the Batmobile can’t be repaired in just any garage (a line that was a link back to a version of the script that included a Robin character), that’s a kind of practicality that a film rarely has time to address. We have Bruce Wayne dealing with issues where he needs to get into action, but his uniform and car are somewhere else!”