The next sequel to 1989’sBatmanhas the perfect opportunity to explain one plot element ofBatman Returns.The Tim BurtonBatmanfilms are part of multiple timelineswith overlapping canon. One such continuity includes both 1989’sBatmanand 1992’sBatman Returns, but expands on the iconic films with non-movie materials – including Sam Hamm and Joe Quinones’sBatman ’89comics and John Jackson Miller’s 2024 novelBatman: Resurrection.Resurrection– which is set betweenBatmanandBatman Returns– has made both films even better by providing additional connective tissue and deploying fascinating retcons.
Batman: Resurrectiondeals with the fallout of theevents of 1989’sBatmanand helps set up elements ofBatman ReturnsandBatman ’89. In doing so, it explains some of the more confusing elements of the twolive-action Batman movies.Resurrectionexplains how Joker could down the Batwing with a single shot of his oversized revolver, as well as exploring Max Shreck’s connection to Gotham’s underworld before Jack Napier’s transformation into the Joker tore Gotham City apart.Resurrectiondid not explain, however, one of the most dubious plot elements ofBatman Returns.
How Did Penguin Get The Batmobile Blueprints?
In the second act ofBatman Returns, The Penguin has somehow obtained the blueprints to the Batmobile, initially planning to simply detonate the car before instead deciding to take control of it, using it to frame Batman as an unhinged super-criminal like him.Returnsnever explains how Penguin obtained the blueprints, and given how crucial secrecy and security are to Batman, a proper explanation was perhaps needed. The closest thing viewers have to one is found in the film’s novelization by Craig Shaw Gardner.
A deleted scene fromBatman Returnswould have had Penguin’s henchmen examine and photograph the Batmobile while it was parked, setting up its sabotage.
TheBatman Returnsnovel reveals that the Penguin obtained the Batmobile’s blueprints from Max Shreck, who took them from a disgruntled mechanic who worked on the Batmobile. This explanation is questionable, asReturnsimplies that Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth are the designers, builders, and sole maintainers of the Batmobile. Moreover, for Batman to allow even a possibility of the Batmobile’s blueprints to fall into the hands of someone like Max Shreck would be uncharacteristically lax for someone as security-conscious as him.
Batman: Revolution Must Explain This Batman Returns Plot Hole
Despite adding more context to many scenes in the BurtonBatmanmovies,Batman: Resurrectiondid not address this issue, but there is still another opportunity to make sense of it. John Jackson Miller’s forthcomingBatman: Revolutionwill be released in the fall of 2025, and it will be set between the events ofResurrectionandReturns.Revolutionis in the ideal position to provide a more sensible explanation for how The Penguin obtained the blueprints of the Batmobile inBatman Returns, especially sinceBatman: Resurrectionalready tied the Penguin more closely to events prior to the sequel movie.
Batman Returns
Cast
Batman Returns sees the return of Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne after his victory over the Joker. This time, the Dark Knight faces a new threat in the form of The Penguin, an outcast who wants revenge on Gotham City. Featuring Danny DeVito as Oswald Cobblepot, Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman, and Christopher Walken as Max Schreck, Batman Returns is Tim Burton’s second and final movie based on the iconic DC comics character.
