In one of the most elaborate non-pranks of all time, the make-a-wish foundation helped transform San Francisco into Gotham City for a day, in order to fulfill a five-year-old’s lifelong dream to be Batman.

At the last count, nearly 15,000 San Franciscans had signed up to play along as the adoring public of Gotham City, as the city council helped set up a series of crime scenes starring  two of Gotham’s greatest enemies, The Penguin and The Riddler. The San Francisco Chronicle even went so far as to rename themselves ‘The Gotham City Chronicle’ – and splash Miles on the front cover.

Miles, who is being treated for Leukemia, had always wanted to be Batman. And thanks to a (donated) Lamborghini Batmobile, he was able to zip from one crime scene to the next – as almost the entire city played along to make his experience as believable as possible.

President Obama even went so far as to record a video of his own, thanking Miles for saving Gotham City.

And he continued to gain recognition among Hollywood’s elite, as Ben Affleck and Christian Bale both shared their views on the pint-sized hero. Bale said in a recent interview:

It’s so touching. Wasn’t that fantastic? I’ve never been on Twitter, but how great a thing that it can create something like that! I mean, wonderful. This little kid, oh my God — what a wonderful day for the little fella! It’s just fantastic, seeing all those people who were out there to support it.

Affleck, meanwhile, Tweeted:

And like any well-meaning president, Obama had to chip in too.

[Source : Huffington Post, Mashable, YouTube]