Batman: Robert Pattinson reveals his feelings on being cast as The Dark Knight
The reality of becoming The Batman has started to sink in for Robert Pattinson. His casting was rumored back in May and confirmed in June for director Matt Reeves‘ upcoming adaptation, which will ignore previous DCEU entries and take the story back to the early days of Bruce Wayne’s foray into vigilantism.
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While speaking with Variety, the former Twilight actor talked about his anxiety and excitement over the role, and how he hopes to add something new to a screen icon that’s been played by everyone from Michael Keaton to Ben Affleck over the past three decades.
“I’d had Batman in my mind for a while,” Pattinson says, confessing that he would constantly dress as Batman as a kid. “It’s such an absurd thing to say. I sort of had an idea to do it, and I’d been prodding Matt [Reeves]. I kept asking to meet him.”
Eventually, Pattinson did meet with director Matt Reeves to audition for the role, and before long it was down to him and Nicholas Hoult (Dark Phoenix). As part of his incredibly high-stakes audition process, he was required to try on Batman’s signature costume: “I put it on. I remember saying to Matt, ‘It does feel quite transformative!’ He was like, ‘I would hope it does! You’re literally in the Batsuit.‘”
It wasn’t until Pattinson donned the cowl that he felt the reality of the role sinking in. “You do feel very powerful immediately. And it’s pretty astonishing, something that is incredibly difficult to get into, so the ritual of getting into it is pretty humiliating. You’ve got five people trying to shove you into something. Once you’ve got it on, it’s like, ‘Yeah, I feel strong,’ I feel tough, even though I had to have someone squeezing my butt cheeks into the legs.”
In fact, the reality of his casting happened on the first day he was shooting Christopher Nolan’s mysterious new thriller, Tenet. Given his access, Pattinson wasn’t shy about asking for pointers from the man who helmed The Dark Knight trilogy, which collectively changed superhero movies forever.
“It’s so bizarre,” he says. “I was like, ‘What a coincidence this is happening. It’s absolutely crazy. I was talking about things to do with the Batsuit? How to get more movements in it?'”
Since his breakout role in the Twilight films, Pattinson has largely stayed away from blockbuster films. His credits include Maps to the Stars, Queen of the Desert, Life, The Lost City of Z, and the crime drama Good Time. More recently, Pattinson starred in High Life, a sci-fi/horror film that was released earlier this year.
The Batman is currently slated to hit theaters on June 25, 2021.
(Image credit: Backgrid)
