Chapter 133

"Alright, I… I have no more issues."

……

When Spider-Man first premiered, fans flooded IMDb with 9.9 out of 10 ratings, but it gradually normalized to a 9/10 score.

The Dark Knight opened on IMDb with a perfect 10/10! A rare flawless start!

If it were The Godfather, that would be understandable—but a comic adaptation reaching such heights?

As more people rated it, The Dark Knight's score gradually dropped to 9.5/10.

Even so, The Dark Knight surpassed The Godfather, which had held the top spot!

The Godfather, immortalized in cinema, scored 9.4; The Shawshank Redemption scored 3!

Could The Dark Knight really reach this level?

When the media broke this news, audiences who hadn't even seen the film were stunned!

What kind of god is this?

Box office figures also prove the seismic impact The Dark Knight delivered to Hollywood!

Opening day gross: $65 million! Shattering last year's Spider-Man record of $57 million!

And it easily crushed this year's opening day champion, Pirates of the Caribbean 3!

First weekend takings: $170 million! Over $40 million more than Pirates of the Caribbean 3!

By a narrow margin of $2 million, it successfully surpassed Spider-Man's opening weekend record!

The New York Times, always skeptical of Xu Can, couldn't help but sing his praises for this achievement.

"After Xu Can single-handedly revived comic book films and revitalized Marvel…"

"He once again delivered a godlike performance, crafting the most charismatic villain in cinematic history!"

"For the first time, the villain completely overshadowed the hero, Batman."

"In Batman Begins, Batman was the absolute protagonist—but in The Dark Knight, the Joker is the sole protagonist!"

"Whether in thematic depth, visual spectacle, editing, or performance, The Dark Knight is worthy of an Oscar nomination this year."

……

At Disney headquarters, CEO Bob Iger was listening to his team's report.

If 2006's biggest Hollywood winner was unquestionably Spider-Man, which arrived last.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2 had held the annual box office crown for over half a year, until Spider-Man easily snatched it away.

Naturally unwilling to accept defeat, Disney worked overtime and swiftly released Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End during the 2007 summer season.

Though its global gross of $961 million didn't surpass Spider-Man, it still comfortably secured the 2007 annual box office title.

They didn't believe Warner's Batman could challenge them.

A film series with consecutive critical failures—what threat could it pose after a reboot?

Indeed, Batman Begins received decent reviews but earned less than $500 million.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3's only rival was Paramount's Transformers!

To cap Christmas box office potential, Disney released multiple films in succession.

Enchanted and National Treasure 2 both premiered during the Christmas season, aiming to steal The Dark Knight's box office.

The former was Disney's lavish animated princess film—the very domain Disney excelled in.

The latter was Nicolas Cage's major sequel.

The original National Treasure grossed nearly $400 million worldwide; the sequel had a real chance to exceed $400 million!

With these two films flanking it, The Dark Knight would surely be affected.

If Disney claimed the annual box office crown, it could meet its yearly target, restore shareholder confidence, and boost its stock price.

Yet The Dark Knight was writing a myth they couldn't comprehend!

Its opening weekend shattered Spider-Man's record, setting a new Hollywood record!

IMDb: 9.5/10; Rotten Tomatoes: 94% approval rating!

Every media outlet and critic gave it a perfect five-star review—unanimous praise from top to bottom!

At this rate, The Dark Knight's journey to $1 billion was no longer a distant dream!

Disney's films would once again be crushed beneath its heel!

Stock prices would surely plummet further.

Disney CEO Bob Iger couldn't bear it—he immediately summoned his media executives.

"Arrange it—no film is perfect; we must find something to attack."

"Boss, even so, it's hard to stop them."

"No, I'm not trying to stop them—just slow them down slightly… As long as their global gross doesn't surpass Pirates of the Caribbean 3, we've succeeded."

The most sophisticated business warfare often uses the most basic methods.

Like stealing seals, flooding with low ratings, writing smear pieces, executives hurling insults…

Sure enough, two days later, the Chicago Daily's entertainment section published a column review.

Due to The Dark Knight's high quality, the review didn't outright bash it.

It first praised Nolan's cinematography and the film's profound thematic exploration.

Then, it shifted focus squarely onto the Joker.

"This version of the Joker certainly captured madness, but it doesn't quite align with the original comic Joker."

"In the old Batman films, Jack Nicholson's Joker, an Oscar-winning actor, remains the unmatchable classic!"

"Xu Can added many of his own interpretations, but to true DC fans, he may not feel like the real Joker."

"This may be a regret for The Dark Knight."

"After all, he's a Best Actor winner—Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the character goes much deeper. Young Xu Can still has a lot to learn…"

Besides this review, media outlets like the *Miami Daily*, *San Francisco Post*, and *Hollywood Film* all published their own reviews.

In these outlets' view, the older Batman and the older Joker were both better shaped than the new versions.

The new version's only edge was that the story was outstanding enough and the spectacle was stunning enough.

Michael Keaton, Bale—

Jack Nicholson, Xu Can—

That was the gist of their argument.

Originally a chorus of praise, reviews like these began sprouting up like bamboo shoots after rain, sparking a huge controversy online.

Netizens seemed to split into two camps, the old and new *Batman* fans arguing back and forth, brewing into a Jinqire Sect topic.

"How is this even debatable? Hasn't Xu Can's performance already proven itself? Did you people even watch the movie?"

"Xu Can is a god! His Joker is easily one of the best villains in film history—who's still trying to hate on him?"

"The brightest character in *The Dark Knight*, and you say it's not a success? What counts as success then?"

The other side only knew how to play the nostalgia card.

"Michael Keaton's version is the real Batman, very faithful to the comics. Nicholson's Joker is unforgettable."

"Xu Can's performance is great, but he has a hard time surpassing Nicholson."

"Jack Nicholson is an Oscar-winning Best Actor—what awards does some Asian guy have?"

"The old cast was all great. Bale just isn't as good as Michael Keaton, and it's the same with the Joker."

"Nicholson's Joker fully embodied a kind of madness, but he never lost the Joker's clownishness—his body language and facial expressions were both excellent. As for the Asian guy's performance, it just feels off somehow."【】

Among the voices supporting the old Batman, some were indeed newly created accounts used to stir up fights.

In the profiles of another group (bdai), the users were all relatively older—your typical middle-aged white rednecks.

Their views were the most traditional and conservative, hard to accept anything new, and even carried a whiff of discrimination.

As the arguing dragged on, more and more netizens piled in to declare their support for Xu Can's performance.

Anyone who'd actually seen the movie would come to love the character.

The netizens backing the old version grew fewer and fewer, reduced to arguing on the strength of the actors' achievements.

An Oscar-winning Best Actor versus an award-less young actor.

One wave barely settled when another rose—on IMDb, a sudden wave of low ratings for *The Dark Knight* appeared.

They flew the banner of *The Godfather*, blindly dragging *The Dark Knight*'s score down.

"*The Godfather* is clearly the real number one in film history—what does some comic adaptation count for?"

"Watch *The Dark Knight* before you talk!"

*The Dark Knight* fans were outraged, and immediately turned around to tank *The Godfather*'s ratings.