‘The Batman’ Writer Defends Paul Dano After Quentin Tarantino Attack

Quentin Tarantino‘s drive-by attack on Paul Dano has sparked a spirited defense of the There Will Be Blood actor.

Tarantino appeared on The Bret Easton Ellis podcast earlier this week and selected his top 20 movies of the 21st century. Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood was in the ranking, but Tarantino had one major issue with the movie: Dano.

“It’s supposed to be a two-hander, but it’s also drastically obvious that it’s not a two-hander. [Dano] is weak sauce, man. He is the weak sister,” he said of the Dano’s performance alongside Daniel Day-Lewis. The Pulp Fiction director added that Dano was the “weakest f***ing actor in SAG.”

The unprovoked attack went viral on social media, with many of Dano’s fans taking his side in the ring. This included Mattson Tomlin, who has co-written The Batman: Part II with Matt Reeves.

“I am really pleased to see so many people cheer on Paul Dano this week. Not only is he a terrific actor, but he’s an astonishing director who exudes control and tremendous empathy,” Tomlin wrote on X/Twitter.

Dano, of course, is no stranger to The Batman universe, having starred as The Riddler in Reeves’ 2022 movie. The DC Studios feature ended with Edward Nashton imprisoned, leaving the door open for his return, though nothing has been confirmed. Deadline reported on Wednesday that Scarlett Johansson is circling a role opposite Robert Pattinson in the sequel.

Dillon Freasier, who played the child version of H.W. Plainview in There Will Be Blood, was also among Dano’s defenders. He told TMZ: “The film is perfect. It’s a work of art. And it’s that way because everyone was perfectly cast.”

The website reported that Freasier laughed off Tarantino’s suggestion that Austin Butler would have been a better actor for Dano’s role, even though he would only have been 16 when the film was released in 2007.

Simu Liu, star of Barbie and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, wrote on X/Twitter: “idk man i think Paul Dano is an incredible actor.”

Jamie Graham, film journalist for The Sunday Times and former editor-at-large for Total Film, summed up the views of many when he tweeted: “Alternative take [to Tarantino]: Paul Dano is f***ing brilliant in the film, and being weak and weaselly is the whole point.”