Hello Twilight, Meet The Dark Knight

[Jack-Hammer]

It was announced yesterday that English actor Robert Pattinson will be the next actor to take up the mantle of the Bat. The next Batman film, simply titled "The Batman", if I'm not mistaken, is set to be the first in a trilogy of films with the first one having been written by and is to be directed by Matt Reeves. Reeves is best known for being both writer and director of movies such as Cloverfield, Dawn of and War for the Planet of the Apes. Reeves has stated in past interviews that the film will be "an almost-noir driven, detective version of Batman" focusing a lot on the character's heart, motive, mind and will be heavily influenced by some of the works of Alfred Hitchcock. It will also be an original story that's connected to the DCEU and won't be an origin story, even though it will portray Batman at a younger age.

Pattinson, age 33, is best known for the lead role of Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of the Twilight novels. The last of those came out back in 2012 and he's pretty much avoided big name, blockbuster films since then and has starred in a series of films, most of which have been either moderately acclaimed by critics or have been utter commercial flops such as Map to the Stars, Queen of the Desert, The Lost City of Z, Life and Damsel.

At first glance, Pattinson might seem like a lousy choice due to the nauseating Twilight films but, as I mentioned, it's been nearly 7 years since those films ended and he's pretty much avoiding anything mainstream ever since. It's hard to get more mainstream than Batman and maybe casting someone who's been away from the big budget, blockbuster spotlight for so many years is the way to go. I mean, it's Batman and there's going to be enormous pressure from fans of the character as it is, many of whom are notoriously difficult to please anyway and are going to complain no matter what. Neither Michael Keaton or Christian Bale were consistent, box office giants when they donned the cape & cowl while George Clooney was a TV star.

At any rate, I'm not jumping on the hate bandwagon right now as I'm gonna give the guy a chance.

[Y 2 Jake]

The Twilight films have value and Pattinson has been an interesting actor for the best part of a decade.

['Ravishing' Ned Flanders]

I'm excited to see how he does

[SSJPhenom]

I don't understand the hate that this is getting online. If you ask me, Pattinson looks very close to what I'd envision Bruce Wayne to look like. He's tall, slender, and has a nice face/jaw line. He's not a bad actor at all and if he bulks up just a little bit, I think he'll be a great Batman.

I can't wait to see what he does with the character.

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't understand the hate that this is getting online. If you ask me, Pattinson looks very close to what I'd envision Bruce Wayne to look like. He's tall, slender, and has a nice face/jaw line. He's not a bad actor at all and if he bulks up just a little bit, I think he'll be a great Batman.

I can't wait to see what he does with the character.

It's just a sign of the times we live in. People want to be cynical and hateful rather than positive, I have no idea why as it's just how things seem to be now. I'm sure the dislike is genuine in some cases, or at least that's what they call it without giving the guy a chance, while some of it is probably just being a troll for the sake of simply being a troll. I've never watched any of the Twilight movies, I don't think I've ever seen anything with Pattinson in it, except for the 4th Harry Potter movie in which he has a role but it was a pretty small part and it was well over a decade ago, so I'm not all hung up on the "ewwwww, this guy was the star of Twilight. What an epic failure of a choice!!!!" mentality. I don't hate the guy, nor do I dislike him. They didn't even wanna give Ben Affleck a chance as Batman and, in some ways, I thought he was better than Christian Bale. I loved the Batsuit during Affleck's time and I was able to keep a straight face when he talked while in the suit, whereas I thought Bale sounded ridiculous. However, Bale's Batman succeeded because Christopher Nolan put a lot of focus on the character and inner struggles of Bruce Wayne and deep character development hasn't exactly been the strong suit of the DCEU overall thus far.

I've read some stuff that suggests that this movie, while connected somehow to the DCEU, is going to be set early in Wayne's time as the Bat. Pattinson looks younger than 33 and it might be kinda cool to see a guy portraying a 20 something Batman just sort of getting started, making mistakes, learning from them, gaining experience, etc.. rather than already knowing about and being prepared for just about any eventuality that comes his way. I think if they put a lot of effort into character depth, have a solid story coupled with the action, then you're looking at a winner.

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Yeah no matter who they cast as Batman, there are going to be vocal idiots saying itâ??s the worst thing ever. Really, that goes for most comic book character actors, with the exception of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. He was born to play that part. Oh and Patrick Stewart as Professor X.

[EnviousDominous]

We live in an age where I have to force myself to be happy most of the time, mainly because the internet is wrought with people who are all "STOP BEING HAPPY! ROBERT PATTINSON IS CANCER! BATMAN DESERVES BETTER!"

There's this idea that some of us have, the idea of just sitting down at the theater and watching a damn movie. I can sit and watch a horrible movie, and enjoy it. Few movies have left me with the bitter taste in my mouth that a lot of people are tasting simply by noticing something like Robert Pattinson eventually playing Batman.

I remember when Ben Affleck was going to play Batman, and the internet did the same thing. They were all: "SAY WHAT!? SHUT THAT MOTHERFUCKING FRONT DOOR AND EXPLAIN THIS COCK-AND-BULLSHITTING BULLSHIT TO ME YOU FUCKING FUCKS! BEN "DAREDEVIL" AFFLECK IS PLAYING OUR BELOVED BATMAN!? WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO RUDE TO ME!?"

I have a serious question; What in God's name is people's deal with Batman? I grew up watching Adam West in fluorescent tights throw girl punches which prompted the screen to show a graphic image of "BLAM!", and I enjoyed every second of that. Sure, I was 5 years old, but I was engaged in the action and Mr. Freeze scared the shit out of me anytime he appeared.

I think that the answer to my question is "Christian 'Newsies' Bale did a great job portraying Batman's potentially manic depressive personality, and now fans only want actors who have shown the capability to portray that behavior." I feel that most fans who only know Batman from the Chris Nolan trilogy are the ones being the loudest about this. Will Wheaton tweeted something about Ben Affleck's lack of acting capability, but seemed to back off after Argo shut up Ben's critics.

The bigger picture here is that people really do suck. We know that few people earn a reaction by being fair and reasonable. You'll get more views and likes and whatever the fuck else by saying something like "ROBERT PATTINSON SHAT ON MY FAITH IN MOTION PICTURES!" as opposed to something more appropriate like "I did not care for the Twilight movies because I'm a raging homophobic douchebag, but I'll wait and see if Robert's portrayal of Batman threatens my fragile sexuality before I lash out."

This forum (and sometimes WZ) is the only place I know of on the internet that hasn't turned to the dark side.