--- title: Times Square: Costumed Superheroes Fight with Heckler description: Batman and Spider-Man teamed up take down the ultimate villain: a 23-year-old canonical: https://time.com/3373723/times-square-brawl/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-14T20:39:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:13:10.800Z og:title: Costumed Superheroes in Times Square Fight a Heckler og:description: Batman and Spider-Man took on a 23-year-old og:url: https://time.com/3373723/times-square-brawl/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c2da5a5bc7d6487/6986a34235ba6f7bfcc03ca6/ap175983938483.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Times Square Characters og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Costumed Superheroes in Times Square Fight a Heckler twitter:description: Batman and Spider-Man took on a 23-year-old twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c2da5a5bc7d6487/6986a34235ba6f7bfcc03ca6/ap175983938483.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 2 Men Dressed as Superheroes Fight Heckler in Times Square > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1d273ff3-0006-4671-8a0b-c42936459980&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Sep 14, 2014 8:39 PM UTC  A performer dressed as Spiderman poses with tourists in Times Square, July 28, 2014 in New York. Two costumed performers, dressed as Spiderman and Batman, were charged with misdemeanor assault after an incident with a heckler in Times Square, New York, Sept. 14, 2014. A performer dressed as Spiderman poses with tourists in Times Square, July 28, 2014 in New York. Two costumed performers, dressed as Spiderman and Batman, were charged with misdemeanor assault after an incident with a heckler in Times Square, New York, Sept. 14, 2014. Seth Wenig—AP  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Sep 14, 2014 8:39 PM UTC It’s a scene straight out of a superhero blockbuster: [Batman and Spider-Man got into a fight](http://nypost.com/2014/09/14/batman-spider-man-fight-hecklers-in-times-square/) in New York City’s Times Square on Saturday night. Or, rather, two men _dressed_ as the caped crusader and your friendly neighborhood crime-fighter got into a fight … with a man heckling them at the popular tourist attraction, the New York _Post_ reports. Police say Abdel Elkahezai, a 35-year-old dressed as Spider-Man, and Jose Escalona-Martinez, a 41-year-old dressed as Batman, were arrested after getting into a brawl with 23-year-old Thomas Rorke, who allegedly provoked the costumed men with “sexually suggestive gestures” along with a friend. The costumed men have been charged with misdemeanor assault. Rorke claims he was punched in the face several times and has visible injuries, [_Gothamist_ reports](http://gothamist.com/2014/09/14/batman%5Fspider-man%5Farrested%5Ffor%5Ffigh.php). \[[_New York Post_](http://nypost.com/2014/09/14/batman-spider-man-fight-hecklers-in-times-square/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3373723/times-square-brawl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3373723/times-square-brawl/"},"headline":"2 Men Dressed as Superheroes Fight Heckler in Times Square","datePublished":"2014-09-14T20:39:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:13:10.800Z","description":"Batman and Spider-Man teamed up take down the ultimate villain: a 23-year-old","url":"https://time.com/3373723/times-square-brawl/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Crime","Times Square","Superman","Batman"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c2da5a5bc7d6487/6986a34235ba6f7bfcc03ca6/ap175983938483.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c2da5a5bc7d6487/6986a34235ba6f7bfcc03ca6/ap175983938483.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Times Square Characters","caption":"Times Square Characters","creditText":"Seth Wenig—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3373723/times-square-brawl/","name":"2 Men Dressed as Superheroes Fight Heckler in Times Square"}}]}] ```