ICYMI: Legendary film director Joel Schumacher passes away at 80

Sad news rocked the film world and Hollywood, as veteran filmmaker and director Joel Schumacher passed away on Monday morning June 22nd. As reported by Variety, the helmer of films such as "The Lost Boys", "Falling Down", "The Client", "A Time To Kill", "8mm", "Phone Booth", and "The Number 23" passed on at the age of 80 after a year long-battle with cancer, and fans and peers in the movie industry have taken to social media to pay tribute to the fashion and stylish director.

Schumacher was also best known for directing the latter two Batman films after Tim Burton - "Batman Forever" and "Batman and Robin" respectively. The first one had Val Kilmer replacing Michael Keaton in the Batsuit, and also featured Chris O'Donnell as Dick Grayson/ Robin as the Dynamic Duo took on Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face and Jim Carrey's Riddler, and it proved to be a more action paced film than its predecessors. The next film however in "Batman and Robin" almost derailed the Batman movie franchise thanks to its campy tones, and not even the star-studded cast that includes George Clooney's Batman and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze could save it. Schumacher went on to apologize for that sequel's performance, and things wouldn't be revitalized until Christopher Nolan took on the franchise and gave us the critically acclaimed Batman films that make up The Dark Knight Trilogy.

No matter how you viewed his career, Schumacher did what he did passionately as a film maker and entertained audiences. R.I.P Joel Schumacher. :(

Michael Keaton talks why he didn't do "Batman Forever"

Despite long being past the shadow of his former tenure as the Caped Crusader of the big screen, many fans still see Michael Keaton as one of the definite actors to have portrayed Batman in film. With his career revitalized thanks to his brilliant performance in "Birdman" and then "Spotlight", the actor is now set to tackle the Marvel Cinematic Universe by playing the villainous Vulture in "Spider-Man Homecoming" this July.

However, one question that has finally been answered is why Keaton decided to hang the cape and cowl and not return as Batman for Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever". In an interview with THR (and reported by Comic Book.com), the actor revealed he knew he had to leave before things turned ugly as the director had a different outlook at how to do the next Batman film after Tim Burton's two films that came before it.

"It sucked. I knew it was in trouble when he said, 'Why does everything have to be so dark?'"

As it is, Batman Forever went on to cast Val Kilmer as the new Bats, while the sequel Batman and Robin saw George Clooney in the role when Kilmer didn't return. Well, we all know how the Schumacher films turned out... We can all move on and put that to rest now.

Batman: New box art hits digital versions of the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher films

In what will certainly tickle the fancy of Batfans who loved the first Batman movie series prior to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy and the DC Extended Universe, new poster box art images for the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher Batman movies have come up for the digital services servicing and featuring the four original films - namely Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman and Robin.

Via Batman-News.com, you can check out the four new posters/ box artwork.