Harley Quinn Speed Art
Hey guys! So a couple weeks ago I put out a poll on my instagram and in that poll I asked you all what you thought about Robert Pattinson's casting of Batman, and I gotta say the results were almost straight down the middle, with 52% on board with the casting, and 48% who weren't fans of the decision. Now I'm not here to change your mind but I want to either reaffirm your beliefs or try to relieve your tension with a couple thoughts.
First let's walk through a few casting choices that the general audience hated when first announced, but are much more favourably looked at now.
First up Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard. At the time Bruce Willis was largely known for his role in the comedic sitcom Moonlighting, and the studio wanted a more burly star like Sylvester Stallone or Mel Gibson. Even after casting Willis the studio emphasized the action much more than Bruce Willis's role in the movie, as evident by the original poster, but after it became a hit the newer posters focused more heavily on Bruce Willis.
Second up Chris Evans as Captain America, now if you're younger you maybe haven't seen the original two Fantastic Four movies, but Chris Evan's had a role as Johnny Storm aka the Human Torch, and well those movies are often criticized, and Johnny Storm is kind of cocky and full of himself in those movies, two traits that go against Steve Roger's typical archetype. But after the first Cap released I don't think anyone complained about his casting again.
Third up Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates. So apparently general audience at the time didn't want Norman Bates to be played by a handsome actor, since Psycho was originally based on a novel and the character in that novel is much more pudgy and frumpy looking people couldn't wrap there heads around Norman Bates looking like a normal person. But Anthony Perkins nailed the role and even reprised it 3 more times afterwards in the direct sequels. Funnily enough, Vince Vaughn probably looks the most like Norman Bates in the novel and he's the worst person to take on the role so far.
And now let's get into some DC castings:
First Michael Keaton as Batman. Much like Bruce Willis before him people couldn't imagine Michael Keaton in something that wasn't a comedy, at the time he was mostly known for his role as Mr. Mom and Beetlejuice and most people didn't think he could take on the more brooding Batman role, but after Tim Burton's stylist 1989 Batman film came out most people weren't complaining.
Second example Ben Affleck as Batman, now this one is more recent so most odds you'll remember the controversy, but people were pretty upset by this casting. I think it was for two reasons, the internet tends to forget everything good that someone has done and only likes to look at the bad, and the bad in Ben Affleck's case was Daredevil and Gigli. But he has done a great job in many films, including directing a Best Picture winner. And in the end he actually ended up being the best part of BvS in my opinion.
And finally Heath Ledger as the Joker. Now this is probably the biggest example of why we should wait and see. Heath Ledger at the time was known for two things, generic but likable Romantic Comedies and for playing a homosexual cowboy in Brokeback Mountain, so in typical fashion the internet was up in a rage over this casting and I want to share a couple of comments from the time: “Heath Ledger as the Joker...that's got to be one of the worst casting choices ever.”
and
“I'm not seeing this movie if he's in it.”
But I feel like most of the comments were fueled by his casting as a gay cowboy a few years earlier with these comments basically summing up those thoughts:
“Yeah great, Jokeback Mountain.”
“I won't be able to watch it. I'll keep expecting him to have sex with Batman. YUCK!!!!”
Cause you know whenever I see a homosexual person out in the world my first thought is always I hope they don't start having sex with me.
And here's a comment that is both lazy and homophobic:
“One word: “Gay””
I've linked an article in the description if you want to read more about the backlash of Heath Ledger's casting: https://www.newsarama.com/18753-public-service-reminder-how-the-internet-reacted-to-heath-ledger-as-joker-casting.html
So the point of all this is let's just give Robert Pattinson a chance. Sometimes the odd choice on the outside can be the most interesting. But I have been enjoying the sparkling Batman memes since he got cast, but remember just because the Twilight movies are bad doesn't mean that he's a bad actor. I'm also going to suggest two movies to check out where Robert Pattinson does a great performance in each, first up The Rover, and also Good Time. Check those out he's actually pretty good in both, I haven't seen them in a while but I remember enjoying them.
So that's all I got for you guys today, hope you liked the Harley Quinn Speed-Art, it was actually a Producer Patron request from Anthony Stamps, at the Producer level you can request an illustration from me after each animation drops, so check that out in the link if you like and thank you to Anthony Stamps and all of you for watching, peace out and I'll see you all on the flippity floop.