After ten long years, The Batman finally returned to the big screen in a solo project. Though Ben Affleck’s Batman was a fun diversion in Zack Snyder’s universe, it was great to see a singular film that focused on the Dark Knight and his band of villains in Gotham City. There was some concern about the quality of the film before it was officially released. Many fans were skeptical about Robert Pattinson taking over the mantle and living up to the high expectations that the previous incarnations had set.
Plus, fans were still living off the high of Christopher Nolan’s remarkable Batman trilogy. Given the talent in front and behind the camera, it wasn’t particularly a surprise when The Batman turned out to be an incredible film. Matt Reeves managed to build off the work that Christopher Nolan did, but he put his own stamp on the rebooted version of Batman.
However, despite the positive reception, The Batman wasn’t the sure fire hit that many projected it to be. The Batman made $772 million worldwide, a far cry from the 1.085 billion that The Dark Knight Rises made in 2012. Why didn’t The Batman make it into the billion dollar club? That’s the question that has some people concerned about the Dark Knight’s future.
Robert Pattinson
Robert Pattinson has turned out to be one of the better actors of the modern generation. The Lighthouse, Good Time, and High Life are just some of the films that really highlight how good of a performed he is. However, mainstream audiences know Pattinson from his work on Twilight. Pattinson had building his name on the independent scene since the series concluded, but it was a massively turnoff to viewers who’s hasn’t paid attention to Pattinson’s venture onto the independent scene.
Twilight is a polarizing phenomenon that dominated the late 2000’s. The films were notorious for being bad, but remained a huge hit amongst it’s target audience. Still, Pattinson played a prominent role in the series and his character didn’t exactly come off great. Edward was seen as controlled, a stalker, and constantly put Bella’s life in danger. Plus, the main cast weren’t particularly receiving rave reviews about their performances.
There’s no denying that some fans just couldn’t see Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman due to his presence in Twilight alone. Even after the rave review came out, the image of Edward Cullen just made those fans unable to take Pattinson serious in such a high profile property.
The High Expectations Of The Batman Reaching A Billion
It could be argued that expectations were set too high for The Batman. Christopher Nolan’s trilogy didn’t start with a billion dollar film. In fact, Batman Begins made a paltry $373.7 million worldwide. This is Matt Reeves FIRST take on the character and The Batman managed to make an astounding $772 million. Films that are franchise starters don’t make a billion dollar out of the gate. Avatar is the rare exception, but Man of Steel ($668 million) and Iron Man ($585 million) came out of the gate on the low side.
There was also so damage to Warner Brothers name because fans weren’t particularly happy with the treatment of the DCEU. After Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice fumbled, the box office returns for the brand continued to diminish, and Batman’s name was a huge part of that series. It’s honestly quite silly that there was an expectation for The Batman to make a billion out of the gate due to the many factors that hindered the DC brand. If Matt Reeves continues to deliver on the quality of his Batman series, then it would be shocking if an entry in the series didn’t reach a billion at the box office.
Warner Brothers Idiotic Decision To Rush The Batman To HBO Max
However, The Batman could’ve also reached a billion if Warner Brothers weren’t so focused on trying to make then named HBO Max a thing. The studio was coming off massive a flop 2021 where experimenting the release of films on streaming and HBO Max day-to-date cost big time. The studio has yet to fully recover from that bold strategy.
There’s no telling if The Batman would’ve truly made a billion, but Warner Brothers rushing the film out of theaters was a big blunder. Studios like Disney and Warner Brothers are starting to realize that streaming just isn’t as lucrative Netflix made it seem.
When fans got wind that The Batman would be heading off to HBO Max, audiences figured that it was pointless to continue shelling out a money for expensive movie tickets when they could get it for a low price of $10. The reason that films like Avatar, Avengers, or Spider-Man: No Way Home got to over a billion is the rewatch ability factor. The pandemic changed the way audiences experience movies on streaming, so waiting for a less than a couple of weeks was the a much more attractive option. It’s strange that people keep claiming that The Batman was a flop for not making a billion dollars. The Batman was far from a flop even if it didn’t reach the levels of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
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