Unless their name is Christian Bale, who was unanimously praised as an inspired choice for the role, then at least a small section of Batman fans are going to voice their disapproval over whoever finds themselves named as the latest big screen version of the Caped Crusader.
Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, and Ben Affleck all experienced backlash for a number of different reasons, and in the case of current incumbent Robert Pattinson, it was largely down to the fact he’d played a major part in The Twilight Saga a decade previously.
Never mind that he’d reinvented himself as a daring, committed, and acclaimed talent, he was a sparkly vampire once upon a time, and that simply will not do. Pattinson gives off the impression that he’s every bit as eccentric as Bruce Wayne, and as he revealed to Variety, he’s developed a habit of anonymously using online forums to argue with Batman trolls.
“It’s actually very… I’m just reading these again and it’s extremely helpful to have these fan theories. I used to look at a lot of the forum stuff and it actually really did inform my character a lot. Still look at it nowadays… I generally lurk. Sometimes I just get pushed a little far and I have to respond something. So, when sometimes you just see a quite abstract message going like, ‘Just please, just leave me alone,’ that’s me. ‘Stop picking faults. I’m doing my best.’.”
To be honest, that sounds like exactly the sort of thing Pattinson would do in his spare time for no other reason than to keep himself entertained. It also makes you wonder how many people have been verbally sparring with the star of The Batman from behind a keyboard without even realizing.
Published: Mar 3, 2022 11:20 am