The streets of San Francisco -- sorry, Gotham City -- went absolutely insane Friday for a 5-year-old boy named Miles.
Miles has leukemia, and his fondest wish was to be Batman for a day. The Make-a-Wish Foundation obliged, setting up several scenarios around the city involving two of Gotham's greatest enemies, The Penguin and The Riddler. At last count nearly 15,000 San Franciscans had signed up online to play the grateful onlookers.
Result: cheering crowds comparable in size to the ones that gathered when the San Francisco Giants won the World Series.
Batkid's journey began Friday morning, as he met Batman and the (donated) Lamborghini Batcar he would be driven around in for the day:
Miles' little brother played Robin:
Miles' reception, everywhere he went, was akin to that for a rock star.
Even his police escort couldn't resist grabbing a picture:
At least three news helicopters followed the Batman and Batkid cars everywhere they went:
Batkid's first job: save a woman who had been tied to the cable car tracks by the Riddler.
Less than half an hour later, Batkid apprehended the Riddler in a downtown bank vault.
Breaking news: There's a robbery in the Financial District, #SFBatkid!!! Stop him! pic.twitter.com/NzpDySheCC— Make-A-Wish Bay Area (@SFWish) November 15, 2013
The Penguin watched on social media in dismay:
Apprehended!? Too easy #Riddler - you were no match for #SFBatKid! pic.twitter.com/YY8xBk9uj4— The Penguin (@PenguinSF) November 15, 2013
His next move: kidnapping the Giants' mascot, Lou Seal:
I have @LouSeal01 and there's NOTHING #SFBatKid can do about it!!! pic.twitter.com/Yb1H3UHjGp— The Penguin (@PenguinSF) November 15, 2013
But Batkid caught up with him at AT&T Park:
#sfbatkid is here pic.twitter.com/hyfxxbAvml— Justin Berton (@justinberton) November 15, 2013
Batkid freed the mascot, and got a huge hug as a reward:
Coming soon: Batkid gets the key to the city from Mayor Ed Lee on the steps of City Hall, watched by a crowd of thousands -- and millions more across the country on Twitter.
Awesome. RT @brodiebrazilCSN: Look at City Hall, ready for #SFBatKid: pic.twitter.com/IcFsbno94q— Erik Malinowski (@erikmal) November 15, 2013
Some 6,400 Batkid photos were shared throughout the day, alongside roughly 130,000 tweets. Good job, Internet.
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