Batman Returns is the most anti-franchise franchise movie ever made

polygon.com:

“Who let Vicki Vale into the Batcave? I’m sitting there working and I turn around, there she is. ‘Oh hi, Vick, come on in.’” This bit of dialogue between Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) and Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Gough) in 1992’s Batman Returns pokes fun at one of the most infamous plot points in the franchise’s previous movie. In the 1989 Batman, Alfred reveals Batman’s true identity and secret hideout to Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger), all so Bruce can finally get a second date. It’s the kind of puzzling narrative choice that’s meant to streamline a film’s emotional arc, even if it makes no sense. Now she knows his secret and we can move on! Glad to get that out of the way!

Script elements like these, with blunt, popcorn-y plot lines, led Tim Burton to all but disown Batman following the film’s release. He found the movie “boring,” a far cry from his passionate, disheveled embrace of his other films. His disappointment over Warner Bros’ control of the film, complete with behind-the-scenes drama about the decisions made behind his back, threatened to swallow any passion he had for the Dark Knight.

Burton initially didn’t want to revisit Gotham City. He only returned for a sequel after he was guaranteed more creative freedom (“What if the second movie is really just a Tim Burton movie?” Warner execs allegedly asked him.) Burton’s best films, especially early ones like Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, combine fairy-tale logic with satire and gruesomeness. They reveal the playfully rebellious spirit of a creator who identifies with the lonely freaks and obsessed outcasts he puts on screen. With Batman Returns, he was given the license to do even more of that with a character known around the world.

But can Batman Returns