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Michael Keaton has 2 perfect words to end speech to grads at Kent State

The actor drew a roar of applause when he capped his commencement speech at Kent State with an immortal line from one of his movies.
/ Source: TODAY

This year's senior class at Kent State University wasn't even born when Michael Keaton famously uttered two words as the Caped Crusader on the big screen.

However, the new generation hasn't forgotten about the original cinematic Dark Knight, as Keaton showed when he brought the house down with the final two words of his commencement speech on Wednesday.

"I've got two words that I want you all to remember,'' he said. "They're very important, and if I leave you with anything, I'm going to leave you with these two words. And those two words are: 'I'm Batman.'''

Keaton, 66, played the starring role in Tim Burton's "Batman" in 1989 and again in "Batman Returns" in 1992.

The Oscar-nominated star of "Beetlejuice, "Birdman" and "Spotlight" said on TODAY in 2015 that he was "up for anything" and would return to playing Batman if given the chance.

"When I did 'Batman,' really it was more a matter of ... we were figuring out a lot as we went along," he said. "The character was really ... Bruce Wayne. That was my way in. ... The rest of the stuff was really just trying to figure out how to manage to do any type of acting inside a giant black rubber suit."

Now all we need is Jack Nicholson asking a group of college graduates if they've "ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight" and commencement speaking season will be complete.

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