The Oscars dropped a special appearance by Batkid

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The Oscars dropped a special appearance by Batkid
(Image credit: YouTube)

One aspect of Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony left many viewers shaking their heads: A pair of videos designed to pay tribute to heroes both real and fictional. As it turns out, there's a good reason that the concept felt so half-baked and incomplete: The evening was supposed to culminate in a special appearance by Batkid — the 5-year-old leukemia patient whose story went viral when he used his Make-a-Wish opportunity to "save Gotham City" last November.

According to Mashable, The Amazing Spider-Man's Andrew Garfield was originally slated to debut Batkid (whose real names is Miles Scott) as "the world's next superhero" during Sunday's ceremony. Though the Batkid segment was rehearsed on Saturday, it was pulled without explanation on Sunday morning, and Garfield was a no-show at the ceremony on Sunday night. As an apology, the Academy gave Scott and his family an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland — though a close friend revealed that the entire family was "disappointed" by the last-minute decision.

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Scott Meslow

Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.