Robert Pattinson Can’t Even Beat Ben Affleck In Batman Popularity Polling
A Twitter poll showed that more tweets reflected Ben Affleck as being the greatest Batman of all time than Robert Pattinson.
A recent internet poll reported by MovieWeb shows that out of all the Batmans ever to grace the screens, Michael Keaton is the greatest of all time. Next in line is Christian Bale’s Batman, followed by Ben Affleck, and then Robert Pattinson comes in fourth. Apparently, despite Pattinson’s critically acclaimed portrayal of the Dark Knight, he still can’t beat Affleck in popularity.
The poll, which was organized by the furniture company Valencia Theater Seating, gathered 150,000 tweets that contained key phrases like “Best Batman” and “GOAT Batman.” The company then took the tweets and added up how many times Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and Robert Pattinson’s names were listed. It isn’t the most scientific way of gathering data, and in fact, it leaves quite a few holes in the very important investigation of “Which Batman is the best?”
One of the flaws in this particular poll is that the tweets weren’t pulled from a specific date range. And it’s important to note that the results skewed in the same direction as which actor’s Batman movie had been out the longest. Michael Keaton and Christian Bale had a clear advantage since their Batman movies were released before Twitter was around. This gave the actors much more time to have tweets accumulate praising their portrayals of Batman.
On the other hand, Robert Pattinson’s The Batman was only released in 2022, giving the actor less than a year for Twitter users to sing his praises online. Whereas Ben Affleck has had seven years for fans to come to appreciate his version of the superhero, despite initial backlash at the announcement of his casting in 2013.
Although the poll had a few obvious defects, the first- and second-place results are probably pretty accurate. Michael Keaton has long been praised for his portrayal of Batman, and Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy is often considered some of the best films made centering around the Dark Knight. However, a closer examination may need to take place to see if Ben Affleck’s Batman truly beats Robert Pattinson’s Dark Knight.
Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League both saw critical dismay not only for Ben Affleck’s portrayal of Batman but also for DC’s disappointing productions. And while DC has been on rocky grounds for quite some time (hence the introduction of James Gunn and Peter Safran as the new Co-CEOs), fans slowly and surely began to appreciate Affleck’s Batman over time, even giving him the nickname “Batfleck.” Now, fans are excited to see where else Affleck will take the character with his upcoming appearances in The Flash and (reportedly) in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Robert Pattinson’s The Batman was one of DC’s biggest successes following a long string of disappointments. Both critics and fans alike loved Pattinson’s Batman, which took on a very different and more gothic tone than what audiences have seen before. While Pattinson received a bit of backlash at the announcement of his casting, fans immediately swallowed their words upon the release of the film, instantly approving and accepting Pattinson’s portrayal.
However, since the poll results don’t seem to share the critical sentiments, it may take a bit longer before fans on Twitter come to praise Pattinson as one of the best Batmans of all time.
