Batman: Resurrection author, John Jackson Miller, discusses where the Batman ’89 story goes next

One of the things we’re most, looking forward to this year, is the release of John Jackson-Miller’s highly anticipated Batman: Resurrection, the (chronologically) first sequel to Tim Burton’s Batman (1989).

Burton’s iconic take on Batman, partnered with Danny Elfman’s Iconic score, Micheal Keaton’s perfect performance and Anton Furst’s mindblowing set design, resulted in a world unlike any cinema had seen before or since and it’s a world that I love revisiting now, just as much as I did as a young boy watching it on the big screen waaaaaaay back in the day.

While we had 1992’s Batman Returns and the (semi) ongoing Batman ]89 comic book series from original movie writer Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones, this is the first time the story has picked up in a novel and, if it’s anywhere as good as Jackson-Miller’s Star Wars entres, it’s going to be one to look forward to.

Speaking about seeing the movie on opening night in June 1989, the author says: “… the film had done something far beyond simple entertainment: it redeemed comics in the popular culture.”

Indeed, it’s impossible to oversee how important Batman ’89 was. While the comics were taking a much darker, adult turn, the public perception of Batman at that time was still Adam West and Burt Ward running around in broad daylight, thumping garish villains – all great stuff, off course, but Batman was set to change everything. From that point on, comic book movies weren’t just seen as viable, they were taken seriously and what was started by Richard Donner’s Superman in 1978 was cemented by Burton’s Batman some 11 years later; in fact, it’s probably true to say that without Batman, we’d never have had Blade or X-men and, ultimately, no MCU, DCU or big shared universes.

So, you can see why it’s a daunting thing to dive into for a new writer.

Jackson Miller’s new tale takes place, unlike the recent comic books, in the close future of a Gotham that has just survived Joker’s attempted mass-murder: “… it’s several months after the events at the Joker’s parade. This was a deliberate decision on my part, because there’s three years (or more) in between Batman and Batman Returns. As I have already found in my work in a galaxy far, far away, you can put a LOT of stories into a period that size. This is one of them.”

I love that this novel will see a Batman that is having adventures on the nightly, and that this isn’t just the first time he’s come out since that night at the Gotham Centenary Parade, much like the beginning of the movie itself, Batman is out there and is already known about: “The Joker has left deep scars on the city,” Jackson Miller goes on, “The Smylex poisonings impacted a lot of people before Batman discovered the mechanism. Bruce Wayne has been working with the city—and one very gifted doctor in particular—to try to help people recover, and that’s a case where Bruce can act where Batman can’t. Michael Keaton’s Bruce is shown less as a playboy and more of an active, helpful member of society. He’s looking for places where he can play a role when he’s not in costume.”

John Jackson Miller writing novel set between Batman and Batman Returns and we’re stoked! UPDATED with full synopsis

While the story takes place before Batman Returns, it will feature a familiar face from that movie in the form of Max Shreck (played in Batman Returns by Christopher Walken) and the story will flesh out just who this corrupt businessman with the crazy, only Walken could have this, while hair, really is.

It will also feature Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent, as played by the great(s) Pat Hingle and Billy Dee Williams, and how they are coming around to working alongside a masked vigilante, much as we know they would in the comics before Dent’s tragic fall from grace.

But one big character who we never saw after the first movie will also be developed more and that’s Vicki Vale, played by the stunning Kim Basinger in the movie: “Vicki at the end of the first film seems adjusted to the idea that he’s continuing to be Batman even after the Joker’s defeat—but we also know that her opinion changed. We delve into some of that. At the opening, she’s away on assignment—but we learn fairly soon that it was more than just opportunity that drove her away.”

First look at Harvey Bullock and Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face (yes!) in the upcoming Batman ’89 comic

Jackson Miller also promises that the book will tackle just how logistically difficult being Batman would be and how stressful it would be on one man undertaking such a quest: “I also wanted to really engage with the logistics of what he [Bruce Wayne/Batman] does. One doesn’t just have multiple special vehicles without a lot of preparation, and a constant problem is that he’s not near either his costume or the Batmobile when trouble arises. The sprawling size of Gotham City is something he has to grapple with all the time.”

The novel will also explore the dynamic between Bruce/Batman and the man most responsible for his staying alive, Alfred Pennyworth, played by the late great Michael Gough in the movies – this is something I look forward to seeing as Alfred is one of my favorite parts of the Batman story in pretty much all iterations. Oh, and we’ll see Alexander Knox, as portrayed by Robert Wuhl, popping up again… while he was created for the first movie, he’s such a fun character in this particular Batman’s lore.

I’m really stoked for this one and, while I’m not as big a fan as I hoped I would be of the comic series, I have pretty lofty hopes for it and I can’t wait to stick on my Elfman vinyl, grab some snacks, get comfy and head back to Burton and Furst’s dark, dangerous but totally unique, Gotham City.

Batman ’89 star Robert Wuhl back for The CW’s Crisis On Infinite Earths?