When news broke that Nicholas Hoult and Robert Pattinson were the frontrunners to suit up as the Dark Knight for Matt Reeves' THE BATMAN, fans all across the superhero spectrum were left feeling divided with regard to who should don the cape and cowl. Truth be told, many were furious that Pattinson, whose career reaches well beyond his notorious role as Edward Cullen of TWILIGHT fame, was even in the running. Unable to look beyond the actor's early days as a sparkly vampire, countless fans voiced their support for Hoult, who in 2015 won the hearts of millions for his role as Nux in director George Miller's MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. However, after careful consideration, Reeves and his partners chose Pattinson for the role. Naturally, this decision prompted much kicking and screaming from Bat-fans over the age of 30, who'd felt as if Pattinson's casting was a sure-fire sign that their influence on who plays the Caped Crusader had slipped away.
Today, I'm here to tell you that yes, we're now living in an "out with the old and in with the new" era for Batman castings. Pour one out for yourselves, my friends.
According to a new Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult poll, some 42% of those belonging to the 18-29 age bracket are in favor of Pattinson assuming the role of Bruce Wayne, aka Batman for Reeves' trilogy (against Hoult's 30%). The survey was conducted among 2,201 adults between June 6 and June 9, mere days after Pattinson's role was officially announced. Now, for those of you who are all like, 'What? This is garbage,' you'll be pleased to know that Hoult faired better among other groups. In fact, Hoult outranked Pattison among the 30-44, 45-54, and 55-64 age brackets, though not by much.
You can see the complete poll results below:
"Twilight fans are totally on board. I think their dedication to Rob is the kind that means fans who weren't Batman fans before are now going to devour all things Batman, in support of Rob," says Bekah Decker, co-founder of Robert Pattinson fanzine LettersToRob.com. "Bruce Wayne is dark, [Pattinson's Twilight character] Edward [Cullen] is dark. There is a vigilante quality in Edward — more in the books — that is an obvious tie to Batman."
Do you feel old yet? Outnumbered? Can you feel your bones turning to dust inside your body at this very moment? After all, we appear to be standing at a crossroads for the Batman franchise, and Warners is definitely looking to take a bite of that Generation Z pie. Which makes total sense, if you really think about it. They've got to focus on the future of the franchise, right? And like it or not, the TWILIGHT saga is considered by many of today's youth to be a must-see affair. Yup. You can roll your eyes at me all you want, but plenty of people watched those films un-ironically, cementing Pattison as a high-profile heartthrob and then some.
In addition to the Pattinson vs. Hoult Bat-poll, THR also examined Bat-actors of cowl's past, finding that the majority of fans preferred Christian Bale's version of the World's Greatest Detective as opposed to Keaton, Clooney, Affleck or Kilmer's take.
If you're left feeling taken aback by the polls posted above, just wait until you get a load of this next one. When tallying the votes for who America's Favorite Catwoman is, the victor by a mere 1% was Halle Berry for part as the skin-tight suited feline femme fatale in CATWOMAN (2004). Can you believe that? I mean, who are these monsters that THR is polling? How do you rank Michelle Pfeiffer's classic performance as second best? I love me some Halle Berry and all, but I demand a re-count!
Lastly, THR asked their poll group who they believed to be the best on-screen Joker. Surprising no one, Heath Ledger surpassed Jack Nicholson, but only by 2%. Sadly, though deservedly so, Jared Leto's Joker only snagged 18% of the votes.
Have Reeves and the WB made the right choice? Do moviegoers ages 18-29 know more about what's cool than those who were front and center for Burton and Nolan's Bat-films? Will Pattinson shock the world with a better performance than his predecessors? We'll have to wait until June 25, 2021, when Matt Reeves' THE BATMAN hits theaters to find out. My advice? Just sit back and enjoy the ride, because the Bat-baton has already been passed, and there's nothing left to do but hope for great things.