Beetlejuice 2 Director Tim Burton Is In “Quiet Revolt” Against AI

There were a lot of aspects of The Flash that were terrible, and it was reflected in the abysmal box office returns. However, one of the things that didn’t sit right with some was the crisis scene and bringing back actors who had passed away or showing a version of a character that never actually appeared on screen. Of all of the deep cuts they could have made, it is still baffling that the filmmakers went with the most terminally online response of Nicolas Cage as Superman from the canceled Superman Lives film. While the team did get Cage to film that scene, no matter how fake he might have looked, the film was something that never got off the ground. Beetlejuice 2 director Tim Burton is someone who was involved in The Flash in a secondhand way with the appearance of Cage and the film bringing back Michael Keaton as Batman from the two films Burton directed. In an interview with BFI, Burton was asked about Superman Lives in light of The Flash coming out and if he had any regrets.

“No, I don’t have regrets,” Burton replied. “I will say this: when you work that long on a project, and it doesn’t happen, it affects you for the rest of your life. Because you get passionate about things, and each thing is an unknown journey, and it wasn’t there yet. But it’s one of those experiences that never leaves you a little bit.”

However, Burton took a much stronger stance on other aspects and seemed to take a shot at Warner Bros. Discovery and The Flash for bringing back Keaton and actors who have passed away through AI.

“But also, it goes into another AI thing, and this is why I think I’m over it with the studio,” he continued. “They can take what you did, Batman or whatever, and culturally misappropriate it, or whatever you want to call it. Even though you’re a slave of Disney or Warner Brothers, they can do whatever they want. So in my latter years of life, I’m in quiet revolt against all this.”

There is something to be said about having zero ownership over the creative things you have put into the world, and I can’t imagine how strange it must have been to see Cage as Superman after two years of work. While people generally seemed to enjoy this return of Keaton, the idea of always bringing people back again and not under the control of the original creators is a weird standing point. Perhaps that is why it has taken so long for Beetlejuice 2 to get off the ground. There were false starts, but if it was going to happen, the original people needed to be involved, not just because Warner Bros. Discovery wants to make lightning strike twice.