Who would triumph in a confrontation between Batman and the Hulk? Michael Keaton, who recently starred in the Academy Award-winning Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), can weigh in. Per an online discussion at Comic Book, Keaton thinks the Hulk is a chump and every superhero is, also, weak compared to Mr. Bruce Wayne.
When inquired who would have the upper hand in a battle, Keaton told Comic Book, "Everyone needs to stop asking the question of who could beat up who. Batman kicks everybody's a **. And if they won't, I will, Bruce Wayne will."
If you didn't know, Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo co-star in the new drama Spotlight, which portrays a team of investigative journalists seeking to unveil the child molestation abuses attributed to the Catholic Church. Keaton revealed to ABC Radio that it did not occur to him at first that both actors have both portrayed superheroes on the silver screen--Keaton as Batman and Ruffalo as the Hulk.
A little background on Keaton, his career was given a major boost when he was again cast by Tim Burton (who previously directed Keaton in Beetlejuice) as the title comic book superhero of 1989's Batman. Burton cast him because he thought that Keaton was the only actor who could portray someone who possessed the kind of darkly obsessive personality that the character demands.
And per Birdman, there's definitely a twist to Keaton and his character.
In fact, Warner Bros. received thousands of complaints by fans that said Keaton was the wrong choice to portray Batman, given his prior work in comedies and that he lacked the suave handsomeness and muscular physique often attributed to the character in the comic books.
However, Keaton's dramatic performance earned widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike and Batman became one of the most successful films of the year.
Keaton later starred alongside Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts and Zach Galifianakis in Birdman (2014), a comedy helmed by director Alejandro González Iñárritu. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his portrayal of Thomson and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
For Ruffalo, who recently starred in Foxcatcher (2014), which he received his second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, portrayed the Hulk on the big screen and continued his role as the green beast in The Avengers movies.
But as Keaton says, don't let these two sit in a room for too long or you never know what might happen (or do, the result might be worth a ticket).
Regardless Keaton and Ruffalo's new film, Spotlight, is in select movie theaters and hits more screens in the subsequent weeks.
