"He's been sending out the bat signal the whole time": Matthew Perry Batman posts spark concern in wake of actor's death at 54

On October 28, 2023, Matthew Perry, famous for playing the fan-favorite role of Chandler Bing on the NBC sitcom Friends from 1994 to 2004, died at the age of 54. He was reportedly found unresponsive in the hot tub of his Pacific Palisades home in Los Angeles. As reported by many news outlets, including Insider, he succumbed to an apparent drowning.

While fans are mourning his demise online and are awaiting the actual cause of his death, netizens and many media sources have found out that in the week leading up to his death, Matthew Perry posted seven times on Instagram, all referencing Batman.

In fact, in his last Instagram post, dated October 23, the actor-comedian was seen sitting in a hot tub, wearing headphones, and the crescent moon up in the sky. He captioned it:

"Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I’m Mattman.”

For those uninitiated, in his November 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir, he mentioned how he associated himself with Batman as he “never gave up.” He also ended the book urging his readers to always consider “What would Batman do?” whenever they are stuck in life and then do exactly that.

Besides, in many of his interviews, he referred to himself as “Mattman.” Following his demise, fans are now wondering whether his last seven posts on Instagram referencing Batman meant anything, with some even speculating that he was sending a bat signal, which, according to the DC Universe, represented a shorthand for a distress signal. In this regard, one Instagram user commented on Matthew Perry’s last post:

A netizen shares her disappointment over the fact that everyone missed Matthew Perry's bat signal/call for help. (Image via Instagram/she.who.runs.with.scissors)

“Was communicating with audience”: Netizens show concern as late Matthew Perry’s Batman posts go viral

In the week leading up to his demise, Matthew Perry made seven Instagram posts referencing Batman. In the first post, he shared a video in which several screens can be seen with the glaring text “The Batman,” which he captioned as follows:

“No need to worry everybody, I’ve got the streets tonight.”

In the next post, which came the same night, he shared an image of the Batman emblem with red lights and asked everyone to “sleep well” as he was on duty for the night as "Mattman."

The following post had the sign reading “Batman plays pickleball” seemingly on a keyboard, which he initially captioned as “WTF?” but later added, “Rest easy. I’m on a tall building.”

In another video, a hand is seen placing what appears to be three cranberries onto a table with the following caption attached:

“This is what I’ve had to eat today. I’m Mattman.”

It may have been a reference to the death of Dolores O’Riordan, the lead vocalist of the band The Cranberries in 2018, who drowned in her bathtub due to alcohol intoxication, as per Yahoo!

The next post had a Halloween-themed jack-o’lantern with the Bat signal carved into it. In the post, Matthew Perry asked his followers whether they knew what he meant, only to repeat the same question in the following post, which showed a clipping of the half-moon illuminating the night sky.

Finally came his hot tub image with headphones on and the same moon above him. In the post, he acknowledged that the warm water felt good and once again called himself Mattman.

Now, following his death over the weekend, fans are curious whether his Batman/Mattman references were calls for help, support, and backup, maybe because he relapsed or was having mental health issues.

In this regard, many have come forward and shown their concern for their beloved actor. Here are some of the reactions online:

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Interestingly, even before his demise, many fans wondered why Matthew Perry was suddenly obsessing over Batman, especially because he was not very active on social media. However, the Friends actor did not provide any explanations for his back-to-back cryptic posts/captions.

Here's all you need to know about Matthew Perry and his Batman fascination

Matthew Perry wrapped up his 2022 biography titled Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir by saying:

“Someday you, too, might be called upon to do something important, so be ready for it. And when whatever happens, just think, 'What would Batman do?' and do that.”

He also wrote that one thing he got right was that he never gave up in his life, because of which he continued to stand tall and was always “ready for whatever comes next.”

Not only that, but he admitted that he jokingly called his assistant “Alfred,” and the latter called him back “Mr. Wayne” (Batman’s real name is Bruce Wayne). He even considered himself as “the dark knight” and his father as the Superman.

Matthew Perry was such a huge fan of DC’s Batman that he even had a Batcave in his home, as revealed by him on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2017 when he said that the Batcave in his LA home was full of Batman memorabilia.

On the same show, he revealed that one of the prop guys from the Batman movies even made him a Batman plaque, which was a model of him wearing a Batman mask and the title “Mattman” engraved on it, an amalgamation of his first name and Batman.

In October 2022, Matthew Perry, while promoting his memoir told GQ:

“I am Batman.”

When asked to explain his statement, he said that just like Batman, he was “a rich loner,” and they both drove black, cool cars. He also mentioned that even though he didn’t solve crime like his favorite superhero, he “saved people’s lives.”

Matthew Perry also added in the GQ interview that he purchased one of his previous LA penthouses simply because it was a look-alike of Christian Bale’s Batman apartment in the movie The Dark Knight.