Unto every generation, a Batman is born.
Your grandparents had Adam West‘s campy take in the 1960s TV series. Your parents had Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney all suited up in the ’80s and ’90s to varying degrees of success. We millennials were treated to Christian Bale‘s iconic voice in Christopher Nolan‘s genre-resetting Dark Knight trilogy, only to then be tortured by the promise of a Ben Affleck standalone movie that never materialized after the promise he showed in Zack Snyder‘s films.
But from the first teaser trailer that revealed Matthew Reeves‘ grungier take on the iconic character in The Batman—including long, greasy hair and more black eyeliner than Taylor Momsen wore on Gossip Girl—it was clear that Robert Pattinson was going to play a superhero for a new era.
Instead of the debonair playboy version of Bruce Wayne seen in prior films, this billionaire orphan was even more in his feelings than Drake. With Reeves sharing that he was inspired by Kurt Cobain while writing the movie and Pattinson referring to his character as freak, naturally, the Internet was quick to dub him ”Emo Batman.”