The Batman (2022 Film)

About

The Batman is a 2022 Batman film directed by Matt Reeves. The project will be Reeves' first Batman film after he took over directing duties of the franchise from Ben Affleck in January 2017. The project drew attention after it was announced that Robert Pattinson was likely to play the title role, drawing backlash from fans who best remember him for his roles in the Twilight films. Additionally, the movie stars Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright, Andy Serkis and Colin Farrell. It was released in theaters on March 4th, 2022.

History

Matt Reeves took over directing duties of the Batman franchise from Ben Affleck in January of 2017.^[1] Over the following two years, scant details about the film were released. It appears that the film will feature Joe Manganiello as the villain Deathstroke^[3] and Jeremy Irons will reprise his role as Alfred. It is also rumored that the film will use The Penguin as the villain. Reeves has stated he intends the film to be “noir-driven in which Batman is investigating a particular case that takes us out into the world of Gotham.”^[2]

Developments

Casting of Robert Pattinson

On May 17th, 2019, Variety reported that Robert Pattinson was the likely choice to portray Batman in the film.^[1] They stated it was "not a done deal" but it is expected to close shortly. Reaction to the announcement was split. Many were unhappy with the choice, remembering Pattinson's work as Edward Cullen in the Twilight films. Multiple Change.org petitions were created in protest of the news, with the most popular having over 880 signatures as of May 17th.^[4] User @Stowejoseph^[5] tweeted a clip from Dumb and Dumber announcing his displeasure, gaining over 330 retweets and 820 likes (shown below, left). User @Yourbigpalal83 called him "the asshole from Twilight" in a joke (shown below, right).

However, the majority of tweets and articles about the apparent casting choice defended Pattinson's post-Twilight work and argued there was a good chance he would be very good in the role, suggesting that the Pattinson backlash was a nontroversy. Indiewire^[5] wrote "Pattinson has become one of the most exciting actors working today thanks to collaborations with such beloved auteurs as David Cronenberg and Claire Denis. He’s also worked with Werner Herzog, the Safdie brothers, and the Zellner brothers." Slashfilm^[6] wrote "3 Reasons Robert Pattinson is an Inspired Choice to Play Batman," noting he was a great actor and that him being an unexpected choice made the film exciting. User @massawyrm was reminded of times in the 90s when people similarly did not believe in the acting chops of Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, and both turned into highly accomplished actors (shown below, left). Critic Scott Weinberg imagined that if Twitter existed in the 90s, people would have negative backlash to Michael Keaton, who famously played Batman in the first two Tim Burton-directed films in the franchise (shown below, right).

Other Casting

On November 5th, 2019 the rest of the cast was also revealed including Jeffrey Wright, Zoë Kravitz, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell and Paul Dano. On that day, the verified Twitter account of BrandonDavisBD tweeted about the line-up, earning roughly 3,000 likes over the course of three years (shown below).

Teaser Trailer

On August 22nd, 2020, DC released the first trailer for The Batman during DC's FanDome stream. That same day, Movie Coverage uploaded the trailer to YouTube and gained over 3.1 million views and 71,000 likes in two days (shown below).

On August 22nd, many Twitter users referenced Twilight when discussing the trailer. Twitter user @DrawingMJ posted a clip from the trailer featuring Batman defining himself as vengeance and suggests that the line should be "skinny twilight batman" (since deleted). The tweet gained over 2,900 likes in two days.

The next day, Twitter user @everydayrobsten shared side-by-side clips from Twilight and The Batman captioned, "expect robert pattinson to save people from getting hit by a car anytime and anywhere" (shown below). The tweet received over 3,300 likes in a day.

That day, many Twitter users commented on Pattinson's eyeliner and often referred to him as emo. Twitter user @richardowenV2^[8] compared the character to the band My Chemical Romance in a tweet that gained over 230 likes in a day (shown below, left). That same day, Redditor Ozymandiaz1920 reacted to the trailer by posting a meme to r/DC_Cinematic^[9] that accumulated over 1,600 points (98% upvoted) in a day (shown below, right). Popbuzz^[7] published a list of online trailer reactions.

Release Date Pushed Back

In October 2020, the release date of The Batman movie was postponed from October 1st, 2021 to March 4th, 2022 due to production setbacks regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic. The development was reported on by Deadline.^[10]

Main Trailer Release

On October 16th, 2021, the official YouTube page of Waner Bros. Pictures released what they titled, "THE BATMAN – Main Trailer," earning roughly 41.9 million views over the course of four months (shown below).

The "Bat Playlist"

On February 1st, 2022, the satirical Twitter^[11] account LeCinephiles posted a tweet that revealed a "Breaking News" story stating, "‘THE BATMAN’ director, Matt Reeves has revealed that Robert Pattinson’s Batman has a “Bat playlist,” and then listing off artists associated with alt-spheres of influence like The Cure, Joy Division, Bauhaus, New Order, Cocteau Twins and Beach House. Essentially, the tweet tried to play off the "indie" nature of Robert Pattinson as a person. Over the course of one month, the tweet earned roughly 29,700 likes (shown below).

Memes were posted en masse going into the beginning of February with users making references to the imagined "Bat Playlist' that LeCinephiles made up. For instance, Twitter^[12] user shoegaazzzer tweeted a meme on the 2nd that used the They Don't Know template, earning roughly 2,300 likes over the course of one month (shown below, left). On February 15th, 2022, Twitter^[13] user urcromo posted a tweet that used the same phrasal template but inserted other musicians like Destroy Lonely Archive, Ecco2k, Weiland Archive, Lucki and MIKE’s Disco, earning roughly 13,900 likes over the course of two weeks (shown below, right).

The Batman Red Carpet Premiere in London

Robert Pattinson Big, Grey Suit

On February 23rd, 2022, The Batman had an initial premiere in London, England accompanied by a red carpet event.^[14] The two actors who garnered the most media attention, as well as meme attention, were Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz (shown below, left). Robert Pattinson, for instance, was photographed wearing a large, grey suit that looked too big for his body (shown below, right).

Memes were posted en masse specifically about Robert Pattinson's grey suit going into the remainder of February. For instance, on February 27th, Twitter^[15] user machinegumkiss made a comparison between Pattinson's look and Nathan Fielder's look in an episode of Nathan for You, earning roughly 8,700 likes in one day (shown below).

"Being A Twilight Hater Is So 2010"

Also at the red carpet premiere, Robert Pattinson was quoted saying, "It's not even cool to be a hater anymore. That's so 2010," referring to people who used to criticize the Twilight movie series. Screencaps of his quote were tweeted by the Twitter^[16] account pattinsnfilmon on February 24th, receiving roughly 176,000 likes over the course of four days (shown below, left).

The quote was then referenced in memes. For instance, on the 24th, Twitter^[17] user rk_memphis tweeted a photoshopped image of Pattinson sitting in an imagined teenage girls roomer decorated with Twilight posters and memorabilia, receiving roughly 81,500 likes in four days (shown below, right).

Initial Reviews From Critics

After the February 23rd special premiere, film critics were able to see the movie and give their initial reviews. By February 28th, the film had received an 89% "Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes.^[18] Before this lower score, it was at 94%, screenshotted and tweeted by the Twitter^[19] account FilmUpdates, which received roughly 12,400 likes in four hours (shown below).

Search Interest

External References