As one of the most coveted roles in the industry, any actor chosen to suit up as Batman in a feature film faces an intense level of scrutiny, and with the notable exception of Christian Bale, every big screen Dark Knight has experienced at least some criticism from the fans after being announced in the role.
Thousands of people sent letters to Warner Bros. headquarters protesting the decision to hire Michael Keaton because he was best known as a comedian from movies like Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice, Val Kilmer came under fire for the sole reason that he wasn’t Keaton, George Clooney was dismissed as a ‘TV actor’ back when it was still used as an insult, Zack Snyder’s casting of Ben Affleck proved divisive based entirely on the fact that he was Ben Affleck, and Robert Pattinson’s association with Twilight had some folks up in arms when he was chosen to headline The Batman.
Matt Reeves’ reboot has faced several major setbacks due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and at this point, the standalone blockbuster has been in production for almost an entire year. It’s been a tough journey to the finish line, no doubt, and a new report making the rounds claims that the director is pushing his leading man to the absolute limit during shooting, due to his desire for perfection.
“Filming has been a gruelling process, especially for Robert, as Matt is such a perfectionist. He has been pushed to breaking point by ‘control freak’ director Matt Reeves,” say sources close to the production.
“He’ll insist on doing scenes over and over again and get bogged down in the tiny detail. SomeÂtimes it’s like he doesn’t know when to stop. Matt has done blockÂbusters before, but this is another level. Batman is arguably the most popular superhero of all and by the time the film is released it will be the Dark Knight’s first solo movie in ten years.”
“Warner Bros. can’t afford for the fanbase to be disappointed and have thrown £90 million at the film. No one is denying that this is a high stakes production and that Matt is feeling the pressure to get it right. But Robert has had a tough time on these franchise movies before. He hated Twilight by the time it wrapped, and the last thing anyone wants is for him to become jaded.”
Playing the Caped Crusader isn’t supposed to be easy, but the combination of Reeves and Pattinson should be given the benefit of the doubt based on the quality of the trailer that was cobbled together from just a few weeks’ worth of footage, and having been delayed on several occasions already, there’s still plenty of time to fine-tune the finished product, even if The Batman is suffering from some internal turmoil.
