Batman, Schmatman!

Let’s get this out of the way: Batman’s a boring character.

I’m sure many of you are sharpening your knives and pitchforks, aren’t you? But I say this as someone who was a Batman fanatic growing up, having dressed up in my cousin’s gear on several occasions. Because while there’ve been interesting stories with him, the “brooding loner who beats up people to distract from his absence of parental figures” archetype isn’t compelling, even for a superhero. Besides, if a Batman-like character existed in real-life, he’d probably be an amoral psychopath.

Batman, like Superman’s “boy scout” and Wonder Woman’s “feminist warrior” stock caricatures, isn’t meant to be deep, though. He’s the embodiment of a trope, and when done well he can star in great stories. It helps that, of DC’s comic book IPs, Warner Bros. gets him best, with most of his movies ranging from decent-to-great in quality. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t leave a lot to be desired, given the contrivances and unanswered questions that arise from a recluse billionaire not spending time actually improving Gotham City after 80+ years of existence.

I mention this in lieu of yet another Batman being cast for Warner Bros. This time, the role has gone to Robert Pattinson, former star of the Twilight movies and everyone’s current punching bag. This sort of backlash isn’t anything new, but Pattinson’s casting has garnered so much ire that it’s gotten to be irksome. Besides, is it worth complaining? No, for several reasons.

For one, the Twilight films are bad, but they don’t define Pattinson’s career. He was Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire prior to Edward, and he’s had roles since. And no one in the Twilight movies gave a great performance anyway. The source material was awfully-written, and no salvaging could’ve changed that. Simply look at the A-listers involved, including Dakota Fanning and Anna Kendrick, to see how doomed it was.

Two, Robert Pattinson isn’t a bad actor. Ignoring the aforementioned film prior to the Twilight franchise, he’s starred, like I said, in a string of indie dramas since. He’s also slated to appear in a Christopher Nolan movie for 2020. Simply look at his IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes profile to see how he’s been doing fine. And given that he has the right build for Batman, I’m actually intrigued.

Three, even if he were a bad actor, that doesn’t mean he can’t pull it off with the right director and script. I don’t think Keanu Reeves is all that great an actor, but he’s done fine in The Matrix and the John Wick films. I also think Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t a good actor, yet he was perfect under James Cameron in the Terminator films. Sometimes, a performance is less about range and more how well-suited the performer is to the role. Given how even good talents can be squandered under the wrong directors and writers, it’s not so clear-cut that Pattinson won’t do Batman justice.

Four, I’ve seen more out-of-left-field casting work before. Remember when Heath Ledger was announced as The Joker in The Dark Knight? We remember the late-actor’s performance fondly, since he stole the show, but people were skeptical. So much so, in fact, that when his casting was first announced, there was tremendous backlash and anger:

"Heath? let's reminisce on the days of A Knight's Tale and Ten Things I Hate About You. Heath? The Joker? Bad casting. Bad joke."

"And now begins the second downfall of the Batman series... I hope this is all a joke"

"The Joker is a character that needs an actor with gravity. Not some little twerp who got lucky."

The above comments, and much more, can be found here. Hard to believe, isn’t it?

And five, the movie isn’t out yet. Why are we all being critical of something we don’t know that much about? I know the internet likes to jump to conclusions, because it’s the internet, but it’s a waste of energy to throw a hissy fit over a casting call. It’s really silly. And besides, the time to be angry is after the movie comes out.

But even outside of the aforementioned points, it’s ridiculous to be this up in arms over Batman. Batman’s had many incarnations on the big and small screens. Some of these were amazing. Some were awful. And some were in-between. On the whole, the character’s been done justice more than he’s been failed. If that’s not reassurance that this might work, then I don’t know what is!

I’m also burned out on Batman. I normally don’t cry “superhero fatigue”, but I’m definitely sick of Warner Bros. falling back on Batman as their first choice. Why not focus on Superman, a character who hasn’t had a great film in almost 40 years? Or Wonder Woman, someone who’s only had two movies in her history as a superheroine? Why not even focus on lesser-known DC characters, like Booster Gold and Blue Beetle? That’s how The MCU became successful, after all!

I’d like Warner Bros. to be more risk-taking with DC’s IPs. There are so many fit for a theatrical adaptation, as we saw with Shazam!, and not taking advantage is like sitting on gold and not digging it up. I know it’s scary, but how will we know what works if we don’t try? That’s, again, how The MCU became successful! And doesn’t DC want that?

So yeah, I’m interested in Robert Pattinson as Batman, but not enough to be angry at his casting. Even if he turns out to be a dud, there are still numerous, previous incarnations of Batman to fall back on. And isn’t that more important than Edward Cullen being Bruce Wayne/Batman?