Last Tuesday, just after noon, Toronto Batman (a.k.a. Alexander Brovedani) entered the Eaton Centre wearing shiny black pants and brandishing a big goalie bag. He was there to continue a mock brawl with his current nemesis, Spider-Man (a.k.a. Brad Willis), which they were staging as part of The Sean Ward Show ’s ongoing “Spider-Man vs. Batman” series. The videos have been steadily gaining YouTube views since their July debut.
While filming scenes the previous night, they came across a man bent over and handcuffed by police. The two lodged themselves behind the police cruiser, saying, “You guys can take it from here, thanks!” much to the delight of passersby.
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The two “superheroes” met through the internet. Brovedani, whose background is in stand-up comedy, had grown weary of the busking/birthday-party circuit. He loved Batman and wanted to branch out with a video component—in this case, trading on the randomness of walking around in public as the caped crusader. Past episodes include Batman searching for Joseph Gordon-Levitt at TIFF, and the original “Batman’s Night Out in Toronto,” in which he chats with TTC passengers and lurks around Nathan Phillips Square. Brovedani said that Spider-Man seemed a worthy opponent to add to the series.
As the pair sparred through the food court, the business-lunch crowd gave them a wide berth. While they arm-wrestled, an unimpressed woman sitting nearby stalked off brusquely, guarding her noodle bowl. Others tittered and took cellphone photos.
They managed about three solid minutes of arm wrestling, a scuffle against the tray collection counter, and some heated chirping before two mall security guards intervened outside of Thai Express. Finally, as the two veered into the PATH, Spider-Man body-slammed Batman onto a recycling box and then Batman tossed Spider-Man into a garbage can.
