Bautista blowing up, Stewart selling out

If you were writing a movie featuring a movie star whose career was taking off, you’d likely show his or her face on a billboard, and then the side of a bus, and then a TV ad. The protagonist, assuming he or she was jealous of this particular character, would become increasingly frustrated with each new appearance of his or her rival's beautiful mug.

I got kind of that impression Thursday night when going to the movies to see Spider-Man. Everywhere I looked, there was Dave Bautista.

Fortunately, I love Dave Bautista so it was a good thing.

It was only two instances, but the fact that it was two different movies made me sit up and take notice.

When I first summited the escalator at the Village Crown Casino, and looked up to the big screen above the snack bar, they were playing the familiar trailer for Stuber, Bautista’s upcoming mismatched cop buddy comedy that co-stars Kumail Nanjiani. I say it’s familiar only because I’ve seen it once before. I like both guys so this looks like something worth seeing.

When I took my seat in screening room 6, the trailer playing also featured Bautista, so at first I thought it was Stuber again. It was not. Bautista is apparently following in the footsteps of big action lugs before him – Arnold Shwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop, Vin Diesel in The Pacifier and Dwayne Johnson in The Tooth Fairy – by starring in a movie with a kid. This one is called My Spy.

Although I welcome the ascendance of Bautista, I do wonder if he’ll be able to sustain what we love about him in a leading role. So far he has excelled as side characters, most notably Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy and the replicant in Blade Runner 2049. He may have played the lead in a straight-to-video movie of some kind, but Hollywood hasn’t come knocking for the big budget wide releases until now.

I guess part of me suspects that as much as I love the former wrestler, he may not actually be a “movie star,” like the guys I mentioned above. He’s probably closest to Diesel, who doesn’t cross over to the same extent as Schwarzenegger or Johnson. Of course, I’m sure he’d be plenty happy if he ended up with Vin Diesel’s career.

Another funny thing about him is that he is already 50 years old. I suppose that makes sense, but if you asked me to guess I likely would have put him at 45. Fifty is indeed a strange age to finally become a leading man.

The next trailer was the first I had seen for Charlie’s Angels, and I was surprised to note something I would have already known if I followed film/social media gossip more closely: It stars Kristen Stewart.

I’d suggest that in signing on to play Batman, Robert Pattinson had made it safe for Twilight stars turned serious actors to go mainstream again. Except that if anything it would be the other way around, as Stewart obviously signed on first.

Both former Twilight stars have worked overtime in the past five to ten years to put that phase of their careers behind them. If one of the two of them were more dedicated to shunning the spotlight, I’d say it was probably Stewart. After finally sloughing off the yoke of the Twilight series in 2012, Stewart has worked for name directors like Ang Lee and Woody Allen, but none of the projects she’s taken could be confused as attempts to earn a paycheck. Pattinson has been more obscure in his choices, with David Cronenberg being about the only household name he’s worked with, but he was never as vociferous as Stewart in how much he hated the trappings of fame.

Yet Stewart has made the choice to earn money again through a movie that seems a bit less likely to be good than The Batman. I wonder if she liked the opportunity to work with a female director, Elizabeth Banks, who also stars as Bosley. It certainly doesn’t seem like we need another Charlie’s Angels, though we haven’t needed any more Batman movies for a while now.

So while I don’t take lightly accusations of people selling out, and appreciate actors who work in both big and small fare, I do think that it seems like Stewart might be doing this, sort of.

Plus I couldn't resist the chance for the alliteration in the title of this post.

Vampire Batman

Robert Pattinson had done such a good job convincing us that he had transitioned, now and forever, into an indie movie actor. In fact, his transition from Twilight heartthrob to seeker of challenging roles has been so extreme, the mere presence of Pattinson in a movie is the most likely indicator that it will not be traditionally accessible.

And now this.

"This" is that Variety reported this week that Pattinson is in talks -- like, serious enough talks that it's basically a done deal -- to be the next Batman. That's in Matt Reeves' The Batman, which is due out in 2021.

Really, Robert?

Hey, even actors have to eat -- a little bit, anyway -- and as he's been lowering his salaries to appear in increasingly off-the-grid movies, maybe the ability to keep his refrigerator stocked has become a genuine concern. If so, I don't fault him any more than I fault anyone else for taking the money now and again to make their lives a little easier.

But I have to imagine Pattinson put a way a ton of cash from appearing in four extremely popular vampire movies going on ten years ago. He might not have been thrifty with it, but there should be enough left to buy quinoa and vegetables, or whatever people who are conscious about their physique eat. (Believe me, I wouldn't know.)

It's possible that this is not selling out, but neither is it inherently laudable, as the role of Batman has taken something of a hit in recent years. I don't necessarily think it was Ben Affleck's fault, but let's just say he didn't do anybody any favors. Zack Snyder is likely more to blame for the dark and humorless tone of Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and then Justice League, the latter of which actually tried to have a lighter tone due to the punch-up work of Joss Whedon, which also didn't work. Not only did Affleck want to get away from the role, but you got the impression being cast as the caped crusader might be considered a black mark on anybody's career.

And Pattinson has forged quite the career, if not as a matinee idol than as a critical darling, which is clearly more important to him. In recent years he has worked with the likes of David Cronenberg, James Gray and the Safdie brothers. Next month his collaboration with revered French director Claire Denis, High Life, will release here in Australia, and I understand it's pretty inaccessible.

However, there are other indications that Pattinson wants to have it both ways. He's scheduled to appear in Christopher Nolan's next movie, due out in 2020 and so far shrouded in secrecy (as far as I understand it; it's only called Untitled Christopher Nolan Project on IMDB, and it's coming out in only 14 months).

So maybe this gives us an indication of whose career he's trying to use as a template for his own. The most critically acclaimed Batman -- for the movies he was in, if not always for his own performance -- was Christian Bale, another English actor. Nolan directed those movies. Bale effectively bounces back and forth between tentpole fare and weirder indie movies, or at least performances you would not expect from him either because he doesn't look like the person in question or because he has to gain or lose a lot of weight to do the role. Something tells me that if Pattinson could have Bale's career, he would.

And besides, now that Zack Snyder won't (presumably) have anything to do with any future Batman movies, or DCEU movies in general (if there is to still be a DCEU), maybe the taint will fall away from the character. A step in the right direction is already coming this fall, when one of the best actors we have, Joaquin Phoenix, will play the Joker. I think that's a career Pattinson would take as well.

I guess this is a development we should root for rather than criticize. Marvel has been smart about its creative choices, plucking actors and directors who would seem to be above all this from the indie scene. DC is trending that way as well, and pretty soon, maybe Batman will again be a character most actors would love to have on their resume.

We should want one of the most beloved superheroes of all time to be beloved again.