A new poll shows that Robert Pattinson's casting as the Dark Knight in Matt Reeves' The Batman has a lot of support from younger fans. Rumors began emerging about Pattinson putting on the cowl in early 2019, although an official announcement that Pattinson would become Batman didn't come from Warner Bros. until May. Since then, though, the Internet has set itself on fire over the news.

Although Pattinson has a diverse body of work as an actor, he is most known for his role in Twilight, a series of movies, based on a series of books, that was a massive hit with younger audiences. Twilight often gets mocked and ridiculed because of its young adult content. Even the rumors of Pattinson portraying Batman angered many older fans, and once that news was confirmed, there was a lot of backlash and outrage. However, it seems that his role in Twilight could help him as Batman in the new trilogy.

A Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult poll pitted Pattinson against Nicholas Hoult, who also screen tested for Batman. Hoult appeared in the recent X-Men series of films. In the 18-29 age bracket, 42 percent supported Pattinson's casting as Batman: this would be the group that grew up with the Twilight books and movies. Only 30 percent in that same group supported Hoult. However, Hoult managed to get more support from older people, including the 45-54 and 55-64 age brackets.


It seems like many older Batman fans can't get over Twilight, but this new Batman franchise might not be for them anyway. Pattinson's Batman will be younger than his previous counterpart as portrayed by Ben Affleck. This keeps the new films from retreading the familiar territory of Batman's origin story but offers an opportunity to see a different side of Batman, maybe even one who has just adopted Dick Grayson, who eventually becomes Robin. The new trilogy will be unrelated to DC's previous attempts at a shared DC film universe, giving Reeves a chance to create a Batman story fans haven't seen yet, although that will not prove an easy feat.

It's the support of Pattinson's younger fans that could bring Batman to a new generation. There is, however, still a lot of outrage over Pattinson's casting as the Caped Crusader, but as they say, haters are going to hate. Perhaps it's time to remind everyone about the backlash of Heath Ledger's casting as the Joker in The Dark Knight, a role that he posthumously blew everyone away with. Here's hoping that Pattinson takes that as inspiration to become one of the best Batman actors of this generation.

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