THE BATMAN Producer Comments on Robert Pattinson's Casting Backlash - "Trust The Filmmaker's Vision"
While a lot of Batman fans don’t like the thought of Robert Pattinson taking on the role of The Dark Knight in director Matt Reeves’ The Batman, I actually think it’s a great casting choice that will bring surprisingly great results.
Batman franchise producer Michael E. Uslan recently opened up about the backlash that Pattinson has received since the announcement and he advises those people who are upset with the casting choice to trust the vision of the director. Uslan said at Germany’s CCXP Cologne convention:
“My position is this: trust the filmmaker and give the filmmaker, and the filmmaker’s vision, the benefit of the doubt. Then wait ’til you see the movie. And then once you see the movie, judge the hell out of it. But I think that’s really the formula going forward. I couldn’t be happier, I couldn’t be more enthused, as a Batman fan, that Matt Reeves is the filmmaker in charge and has selected Robert Pattinson to be his next Batman.”
I said something similar to this in a previous post about fans hating on Pattinson. A lot of die hard fans rant about giving the directors creative freedom they need to make the movies they want instead of the Hollywood executives throwing in their opinions and ideas. It’s like the fans have become the thing that they despise. Uslan went on to say:
“The star of the Batman movies is Bruce Wayne. Batman is the star. Batman is who everyone wants to see, along with the supervillains, so how does a filmmaker make the choice of which actor to cast? And I think the real key question for fans, and for all of us to focus on, is the filmmaker.
“So we’ve seen the genius of Tim Burton, we have seen the genius of Christopher Nolan. The question becomes: is there a filmmaker who you see has a knowledge of a character, has an understanding of a character, a passion and a love for the character? Does that filmmaker have a vision for the character? And if so, does he or she, do you believe, know how to execute that vision? And if you can answer those questions successfully, then for me, my role is to become the world’s number one cheerleader. And you have to trust in your filmmakers.”
Notice he didn’t say “we’ve seen the genius of Zack Snyder.” Ouch! He went on to see that there was a huge uproar when Michael Keaton was cast as Batman, “an uproar like the world had never seen before.” He added:
“And understand, this was before computers and before social media, and before there were comic book conventions all over the planet. Just in mainstream media, this became the hottest, most controversial topic all over.
“The fans were up in arms: ‘How can you have a comedian play Batman? You guys are gonna revert it back to the 1960s show, you’re gonna destroy Batman.’ Until they saw the movie and saw what Tim Burton’s vision was, and how he executed it. And then the fans never wanted anyone else to be Batman.”
He then went on to talk about Nolan’s Batman film and the backlash the film received when Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker:
“Then we jump a little bit ahead of time. We have a new filmmaker in by the name of Christopher Nolan. And word goes out that for The Dark Knight he is casting Heath Ledger as the Joker. The fan reaction was berserk.
“’How dare you cast some gay cowboy to play the Joker? He’ll destroy the character forever!’ And then of course after they see the movie, they never want anyone else to be the Joker. And it repeated again with Anne Hathaway, when it was announced she would play Catwoman, because she was not the obvious choice. People were thinking maybe Angelina Jolie or somebody, and ‘oh, she’s the girl next door, she could never do it.’ And then she did this brilliant, brilliant job.”
At this point, he touches on Ben Affleck being cast as Batman by Zack Snyder, saying:
“Ben Affleck, when it was announced he would be Batman, I thought they were really gonna surround the studio with pitchforks and torches. So then Robert Pattinson is announced, and the controversy on both sides breaks out all over again, so it’s a repeated formula.”
It really is a repeated formula! We see this time and time again when someone new is cast in a big popular comic book character role. The fans all have an opinion and once one person starts hating on the idea a bunch of other people jump on the band wagon and join in.
Not me. I’ll give Pattinson the chance he deserves. I’m sure that once we see Pattinson in the role of Batman, the fans are going to gush over how great of a Batman he makes. Remember, it’s a repeated formula and that’s what happens.
Reeves’ The Batman opens June 25, 2021.