There is a lot about Tim Burton's two directorial efforts within the Batman movie franchise that made it essential for modern superhero movies to succeed. Especially with his first 1989 movie, as the box office success of that movie is what first piqued Hollywood's interest in the superhero movie genre and was the first step into bringing comics culture into the mainstream.
With that in mind, as it was the first introduction to Batman for many moviegoers, that allowed Burton to take some liberties with the source material that the comics version of Batman may not appreciate if he saw Burton's movies.
10 He Intentionally Murders Multiple People
This is perhaps the most glaring difference between Tim Burton's Batman character and the more traditional version that fans are familiar with from the comics. One of the most noteworthy qualities— and, arguably, his most essential— is that he has a code against killing, no matter how dangerous his villains have become.
Burton's Batman has no code to speak of and oftentimes kills the prettiest of criminals with sadistic, uncharacteristic glee. Much like when he unhooks a bomb strapped to a Penguin thug's waist in Batman Returns and leaves him to explode with a smile on his face.
9 He Inadvertently Kills The Joker
Out of all of the people whom Batman kills over the course of Tim Burton's two Batman movies, the "real" Bruce Wayne may especially take exception to Burton's Batman killing The Joker. Though not directly, Batman does shoot a grappling hook that connects to Joker's foot, preventing his escape and leading to the Clown Prince's plummeting demise.
Batman doesn't typically killed The Joker, not just because of his no-kill rule, but because in an unspoken way, the two need each other and are better off with each other alive than either of them dead.
8 His Complete Disregard For Human Life
Which, speaking of that grappling hook incident, someone could argue that Batman did that without necessarily trying to kill The Joker, just so that the bad guy wouldn't get away. If that's truly the case, then it can't be overlooked how Batman showed a clear disregard for preserving human life, as he does in both Burton movies.
Surely, he would have considered that at the very least, if Joker didn't fall to his death, he could've smacked his head against the side of the building and died there, or considered the gargoyle's weight. Maybe he did and just didn't care.
7 He Takes The Bat Gimmick A Little Too Seriously
In one of the sillier scenes to take place in the 1989 movie, Vicki Vale wakes up in the middle of the night after sleeping with Bruce Wayne to find the billionaire hanging upside down like a bat. Watching the scene in 2021 now in retrospect, it's probably just as much of a silly sight as it was in 1989 for audiences.
It's especially silly for comics readers who know Batman's never done such a thing. He's a creature of the night, but not even the comics Batman bought into his gimmick that much.
6 He Brings Civilians To The Batcave
One part of having a secret identity also means keeping a hero's primary location a secret. In the comics, Batman does a decent job at both, but even if his secret identity is somehow revealed, he usually isn't quick to just bring random people to his secret headquarters.
The opposite is the case in Tim Burton's Batman, where not even halfway into the first movie, he brings ace reporter, Vicki Vale, to his place of sanctuary: The Batcave. It's as if he was just so lovelorn, he didn't realize how much of a bad idea it could be to bring a reporter there of all things
5 He's Too Quick To Fall In Love
Speaking of being lovelorn, Burton's Batman might just fall in love a little too easily. In the first Burton movie, he takes a lot of liberties with things he should be secretive about to Vicki Vale in the name of being in love. It's hard to buy into that love when in the sequel, Batman Returns, Batman's already supposedly fallen in love with someone new, Catwoman.
In the comics, Batman typically doesn't get into romance for the sake of focusing on crimefighting, and when he does, his number of liaisons are few and far between. In the Burton movies, he's already got two love interests two movies apart from each other— and Selina Kyle also ends up being a one-and-done relationship who is then gone by the third movie.
4 He's Too Quick To Reveal His Secret Identity
Speaking of his secret identity, it isn't much of a secret in either Batman or Batman Returns. In the first movie, he's quick to reveal his secret to Vicki Vale in the name of a love that doesn't even last to the next movie.
What does happen in the next movie is Batman Returns ending with the title character having revealed his secret identity to both his new love, Catwoman, as well as a new enemy named Max Shreck. The comic book Batman certainly wouldn't take kindly to seeing someone in his name revealing their secret identity so easily to everyone, let alone one of his rivals.
3 He Doesn't Work With Gotham PD, Or Even Commissioner Gordon
Part of Batman's vigilante reputation comes from the reluctant to work with the Gotham Police Department on both sides. However, over time, their relationship strengthens to the point that Batman is directly talking and working with Commissioner Gordon. At least in the comics, anyway.
Audiences don't get to see that relationship blossom in the 1989 movie. It mostly grows offscreen, with no sign that they're on better terms than when the movie started, besides the finale of the 1989 movie ending with Gordon finally lighting the Bat Signal. Between both movies, Batman hardly even shares a scene with Gordon.
2 The Joker Killed His Parents
The lore of Batman has always constituted of a petty criminal named Joe Chill being the one to ice Bruce's parents. Pardon the pun. In the movie, as a means to further link Batman and The Joker as two men who were made for each other and basically created each other, Bruce Wayne's backstory is altered so that Joker killed his parents during his days as pro criminal Jack Napier.
In the comics, Batman and The Joker are closer than the former would like to believe, so the Dark Knight of the comics may not appreciate such a major movie interpretation.
1 He Doesn't Seem To Hit The Gym Very Often
Compared to his comics physique and even the physique of other actors who've taken the Bat mantle, Michael Keaton isn't the square jawed, jacked man Bruce Wayne is usually depicted as. Which maybe it doesn't matter since his Batsuit makes him look sufficiently buff and intimidating to villains, and it goes along with Burton wanting Bruce Wayne to look like a mild-mannered citizen.
If that was the case, Keaton's lack of muscular definition works, but for a character whose typically depicted in the comics as working out practically 24/7 whenever he's not fighting crime or running business errands, it's not quite accurate.