After almost 30 years and countless iterations of the legendary Dark Knight, Michael Keaton's long-awaited, barely believable yet somewhat inevitable return to the role of Batman is finally here, as recently leaked set photos gave fans their first look at the now-grayed Bruce Wayne in the upcoming The Flash movie.

Keaton's re-donning of the cape and cowl represents both a shock and an eventuality. While he famously turned down millions of dollars to appear in the third Batman film in the 90s — what would eventually become Batman Forever — the nature of the comic book movie landscape these days is such that quite literally anything is narratively possible, including an actor returning to a role that not only defined his character, but defined the character to an entire generation, if not an entire culture, of fans.

Fittingly, Keaton's long-awaited, oft-dreamed-of Batman reprisal will come in 2022's The Flash, which is 30 years — the generally accepted time-period that defines a "generation" — after he last suited up to save the streets of Gotham City in 1992's Batman Returns .

With Keaton once again becoming Batman now fully realized thanks to those aforementioned set photos, there's no better time than now to wind the clocks back to an era of superhero filmmaking gone by and relive the actor's most iconic moment as the Caped Crusader.

"I'm Batman"

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Image via Warner Bros.

In retrospect, with the context of what the superhero-movie-machine has become, the charm of Tim Burton's Batman films are the simplicity of them. Batman acts like a bat, Joker acts like a clown, Catwoman acts like a cat, etc, etc. That inherent and enjoyable simplicity is best epitomized in the moment we first meet The Batman.

Properly introducing a generation of fans to the Protector of Gotham for the first time, Burton opted to kick his superhero tale Batman into gear with what amounts to the purest distillation of the character: set atop a typically menacing skyscraper, Batman dispatches of two petty criminals with ease before firing a warning shot to both the evil-doers in his grasp and across the streets of Gotham City: I'm Batman.

"I'm Bruce Wayne"

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Image via Warner Bros.

Batman, of course, isn't all brute force and advanced weaponry. After all, he isn't revered as the World's Greatest Detective for nothing. It's in this moment, when Bruce first meets Kim Basinger's captivating Vicki Vale and introduces himself, that he displays all the qualities that make both Batman and Bruce Wayne such an imposing threat outside of his physicality: his cunning, his charm, his knowledge, his wit.

"Wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts!"

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Image via Warner Bros.

This electric threat unleashed on Joker has perhaps more staying power than any other element in Batman... and that's due to its elite memeability. In the age of the internet, becoming a meme results in relevancy, and that's what Batman will maintain for as long as this moment remains so frequently shared.

First Batplane Flight

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Image via Warner Bros.

The Batmobile is what it is, and had been done before in live-action, famously in the Adam West-starring TV series. But the Batplane not only represented a step forward for Batman vehicles, but for superhero films in general, pushing the genre, and the film's final act, more towards the thrills of the behemoth likes of Star Wars . Plus, it gave us this shot.

Killing Joker

Image via Warner Bros.

It's ironic that one of the biggest complaints of Zack Snyder's Batman is the fact that he killed criminals (okay — a lot of criminals), and yet the climax of Batman features the Caped Crusader personally dotting the I's and crossing the T's of Joker's ultimate demise.

The Final Shot of Batman

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Image via Warner Bros.

The closing scene in Batman remains one of the purest representations of the character as the Dark Knight gazes upon the newly-built Bat-symbol and down on the city he cares for so deeply, stoking audience anticipation for more adventures with the Caped Crusader.

The First Fight with Selina Kyle in Batman Returns

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Image via Warner Bros.

Oddly enough, Batman Returns is a Batman movie that largely doesn't feature its titular hero for its first hour. When Batman does finally get into the action, it's a far more physical experience than that of the original film, with the Dark Knight partaking in significantly more combat, particularly in the scene where he and Michelle Pfeiffer's Selina Kyle trade leather-coated blows for the first time.

Taking Off the Mask to Reveal His Identity

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Image via Warner Bros.

While Batman protects his secret identity with the same veracity that he does his own life, there are moments — particularly when a love interest is involved — that Batman decides to let down the secretive shield and reveal himself to be Bruce Wayne for the greatest good. This moment in Batman Returns is unforgettable in that Wayne is laying himself bare in front of Selina Kyle.

Not Signing on to Star in Batman Forever

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Image via Warner Bros.

As legend has it, Keaton was initially planning on reprising his role of Bruce Wayne in 1995's Batman Forever.

After Tim Burton was asked to step down as director as Warner Bros. attempted to make a more family-friendly film, the Beetlejuice filmmaker reportedly hand-picked Joel Schumacher to be his successor, with even Keaton apparently approving of the hire. However, once Keaton got his hands on the script, he found himself ultimately displeased with the direction of the franchise, eventually turning down $15 million to return.

Batman Forever would ultimately mark the beginning of the cinematic end of the character in the 90s, as the poor critical reception and diminishing financial returns of both that film, and its infamously derided sequel Batman & Robin , forced Warner Bros. to mothball the character until Christopher Nolan rebooted the franchise with aplomb with 2005's Batman Begins .

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