Playing an iconic role is tough, but it’s even tougher when it seems like the whole world is against you doing it.
That’s the current situation for Robert Pattinson who was named the next Batman back in May.
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After months of staying quiet about all the backlash, the Twilight star is finally speaking out.
And you won’t believe what he has to say.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Robert Pattinson of “Twilight” fame would become the next Batman.
He’s stepping into the caped crusader’s shoes like several actors before him, such as Christan Bale, George Clooney, and Ben Affleck.
While Pattinson was certainly excited to play the role of a lifetime, online, the reviews were mixed.
Similar to how to world reacted to Ben Affleck playing the iconic role, there was a lot of backlash towards Robert’s casting.
The backlash led to some pretty mean posts like this:
This person went straight for the jugular, AKA, the Twilight jokes.
Even the former mayor of Toronto was against the controversial casting.
Some people actually defended Robert to Norm by stating that no one thought Heath Ledger would make a great Joker and yet, he ended up being one of the best ones.
The ones who were all for Robert playing Batman were mainly former “Twilight” fan-girls.
You know, like myself.
Edward Cullen as Batman? Yes, pleaseeeee.
With all the backlash surrounding his casting, one has to wonder how Pattinson felt about the whole thing.
I can’t imagine it felt good to have the whole world doubt you…
Recently, “The Lighthouse” actor spoke with “Variety” to set the record straight on how he really feels.
It all started with him recalling how he was obsessively Googling himself after news had leaked that he was going to be the next Batman.
Thing is, he hadn’t even auditioned yet at that time.
“When that thing leaked, I was [expletive] furious,” he said.
He was so worried that Warner Bros. executives would count him out of the race due to the backlash surrounding his “casting,” which hadn’t even happened yet.
“Everyone was so upset. Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing.”
He didn’t realize he was doing all this obsessive Googling when the person next to him on his flight was Christopher McQuarrie, the director behind the Mission: Impossible films.
When Pattinson explained why he was Googling so much, the director understood.
“No worries,” McQuarrie said with a nod. “I’d probably be doing the same thing.”
As you can tell, playing Batman is a huge deal for the actor.
While growing up in England, he said that his Batman costume was practically the only outfit he had.
He wanted the part so bad, he even began hassling the director, Matt Reeves, before the script was even finished.
“I’d had Batman in my mind for a while,” he said.
“It’s such an absurd thing to say. I sort of had an idea to do it, and I’d been prodding Matt. He didn’t accept any prods. I kept asking to meet him.”
Thankfully, it all worked out!
So with his love of the character being so strong, you would think that he would be crushed over the backlash, right?
There was even a petition on Change.org, asking WB to reconsider Pattinson for the part.
WRONG. Surprisingly, Pattinson’s reaction to the backlash has been … “upbeat.”
“To be honest, it was less vitriolic than I was expecting,” he said. And he’s not deterred by the doubters: “It’s much more fun when you’re an underdog. There’s no expectation of you.”
Now, only time will tell if this “underdog” will prove the haters wrong.
The Batman movie hits theatres on June 25, 2021.
Will you be watching? Let us know in the comments!
