“Antman had Batman’s name at first”: Michael Keaton Can’t Use His Real Name in Hollywood Because of Another Marvel Actor

SUMMARY

• Michael Keaton was born Michael Douglas, the youngest son of George and Leona Douglas, in Pittsburgh.
• When he entered the industry, he was forced to change his name as the SAG prevented two actors from having the same name.
• Keaton intends to go back to a hybrid version of his birth name and stage name, which can cause a great deal of confusion.

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Michael Keaton could not go by his birth name in Hollywood due to a restriction on using the same name as other artists. Keaton shared that his real name is Michael Douglas, the same as that of the Wall Street actor. The Beetlejuice actor, born to George and Leona Douglas, intends to go back to his birth name by adopting the hybrid name, Michael Keaton Douglas.

Michael Keaton as Batman in The Flash | Credits: DC Films/Warner Bros. Pictures

When the news broke out on social media, fans were quick to react with Batman vs Ant-Man memes. Keaton’s most recent film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will hit U.S. theaters in a matter of hours but received positive reviews from its overseas market. He is credited as Michael Keaton in the film.

Michael Keaton Couldn’t Use His Birth Name In Showbiz All These Years

Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice | Credits: Warner Bros. Pictures

Michael Keaton was born Michael Douglas, the youngest of the seven children of George and Leona Douglas. The young middle-class Pittsburgh boy went on to pursue his Hollywood dreams and landed a couple of TV roles. However, he couldn’t use his birth name due to restrictions placed by the Screen Actors Guild.

According to the union rules, two artists cannot have the same professional name. The industry already had actor Michael Douglas and a TV show host Mike Douglas. The Spider-Man: Homecoming actor changed his name to Keaton and stuck to that name throughout his career success. His breakout role was in the sitcom Sticks and Bone and he later went on to play Batman.

At least some fans were surprised to hear this news from Keaton during a recent interview with PEOPLE. Keaton shared that he now wanted to go back to his birth name. Fans used the superhero names of Keaton and Douglas to comment that Ant-Man took Batman’s name and now Batman was taking it all.

Fans shared that Keaton’s new intended professional name, Michael Keaton Douglas, would create unnecessary confusion in the industry. Other fan comments had a little fun with all the superhero references. Some of the fan reactions read:

Wait.. Antman had Batman’s name first so now Batman is taking it all pic.twitter.com/uSt7VRhVFh

Does this mean we have to start referring to '89 Batman as the Douglas Batman? pic.twitter.com/uDPDSaOmr9

SAG SEEING THERE SAME NAME pic.twitter.com/8RUmc0MqTx

Michael Keaton Douglas? That’s one way to confuse Hollywood even more. Maybe he should just stick to being Batman!

“michael keaton’s real name is michael douglas” pic.twitter.com/KOhEkIIaBs

Interestingly, the lore has it that the actor randomly picked the name Keaton from a phone book. During his interview with PEOPLE, Keaton couldn’t confirm it for certain, sharing that he picked out a moniker he thought was “reasonable” and went with it.

Michael Keaton Intended to Use The New Professional Name In His Recent Film But “Forgot”

Michael Douglas in a still from Ant-Man | Credits: Marvel Studios

During his interview with PEOPLE, Michael Keaton shared that he intended to use the new hybrid of his birth name and stage name—Michael Keaton Douglas—in his recent film. Keaton directed and played the main role of a hitman in Knox Goes Away, a crime thriller also starring James Marsden and Al Pacino.

However, the stress of a filmmaker on his second directorial venture got to Keaton and he forgot to go by his new name. He shared with PEOPLE:

I said, ‘Hey, just as a warning, my credit is going to be Michael Keaton Douglas.’ And it totally got away from me. And I forgot to give them enough time to put it in and create that. But that will happen.

Interestingly, Michael Douglas is the son of late actor and filmmaker Kirk Douglas, whose birth name was Issur Danielovitch. Kirk Douglas changed his name to Izzy Demsky when he immigrated to the United States and later changed it to Kirk Douglas before entering the US Navy during World War II.

Written by Hashim Asraff

Articles Published: 1685

Hashim, Entertainment Writer. With over 1500 published articles on FandomWire, he covers a wide range of topics from celebrity life to comic book movies. He holds a Masters degree in Sociology and his expertise proves invaluable in handling sensitive news. His passion for crime investigation thrillers has turned him into a detective, exploring the darkest corners of the internet during his research.