The synchronous pairing of three brooding, beloved icons is almost too much for the average media consumer (like me) to bear. The Batman, Robert Pattinson, and Kurt Cobain. Three infamous and admired characters, embedded deeply into American culture. The film itself smashed records in the box office and garnered an 85% (certified “fresh”) on Rotten Tomatoes.

The success of The Batman is in no way surprising, and Nirvana has been an integral part of that since the film was announced. In August of 2020, the trailer for The Batman dropped and a reworked version of Nirvana’s “Something In The Way” was featured in the video. As the trailer gained traction, Nirvana’s music started charting again and the soundtrack brought new listeners to the cult classic. A quote from MovieWeb claimed, “As of this writing, the official trailer for The Batman has been watched well over 15 million times. That new publicity has brought "Something in the Way" to number 18 on the Amazon digital music chart and number 22 on the iTunes top 200.”

The origins of the haunting, cryptic Nirvana song penned by Kurt Cobain come from the iconic Nevermind, released in 1991. The song reminisces on the time when Kurt Cobain was homeless and was inspired by its hopelessness. On Monday, the weekend after the movie came out, the song charted at #10 on the iTunes charts, almost 30 years since its original release.

Now, TikTok is picking the rock anthem back up to move the needle again in the hilarious new trend where people film themselves “taking on Batman’s personality” to the brooding tune in the background and other hilarious takes on the movie. Successful trends have a tendency to gain momentum on TikTok, and the proliferation of the faux Batman has even made its way to Instagram Reels.

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Here are a few of our favorites:

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It would be unsurprising if the trend rises to new heights as more people see the movie and TikTok gives the song new wings. 

You can listen to the entire 7-hour Batman soundtrack .

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