#Why The Batman Director Really Wanted Robert Pattinson as the New Bruce Wayne

The casting of Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne aka Batman in Matt Reeves’ upcoming movie The Batman caught many by surprise. Audiences knew Pattinson either as the sparkling vampire from Twilight, or an indie darling with many offbeat roles in small-budget films. During the DC FanDome panel for his film, Reeves explained what it was about the actor that drew his attention.

“The thing about Robert Pattinson is that he’s an incredible actor. I feel like the work that he’s done in the last, I don’t know, six years, has been incredible. A friend of mine made a movie called The Lost City of Z, and Rob appeared in that movie and I was like ‘who is that guy?’ Just such charisma, and he, Rob in the movie has this incredible beard and you were like ‘who is that’ and it’s Rob. And Rob in the Rover, and Rob in Good Time, he is like a chameleon…he’s just a gifted actor.”

So it was Pattinson’s more offbeat work in indie cinema that convinced Reeves there were hidden depths to the actor. Still, making the jump from indie film actor to action hero in a giant blockbuster feature is a big commitment. In this case, Matt Reeves explained that it was their shared passion for the Batman mythology that drew him and Pattinson together.

“[Robert has] been working on his craft in this really incredible way, and he also happens to be a tremendous, passionate sort of fan of Batman that way that I am and so… it was an incredible thing to be able to connect with him and to share the excitement about the character and to work with him. I mean, you know, he looks like Batman but more than anything, he has the soul of someone I think can play a Batman like you’d never seen before.”

Reeves’ confidence in Pattinson may not have been shared by Batman fans in the past, but the release of The Batman trailer has dispelled all doubts. Netizens are now convinced this is going to be one of the best live-action portrayals of the Dark Knight ever, a sentiment that Reeves has given his full support to.

“For me, what was exciting was not doing that, not doing the origin, not doing what we’d seen done so beautifully in other movies, but instead to meet him in the middle of this criminological experiment, to see him in the becoming of Batman and to see him make mistakes as Batman and see him grow and fail and be heroic, do all of the things that we associate with Batman, but in a way that felt very human and very flawed.”

The Batman is directed by Matt Reeves and co-written by Reeves and Mattson Tomlin. The film features Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/The Riddler, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone and Peter Sarsgaard as District Attorney Gil Colson. It is set to be released in theaters on Oct. 1, 2021. This news was first revealed during DC FanDome this past Saturday. The second part of DC FanDome will happen on VOD Saturday September 12.

Topics: The Batman, Batman, DC FanDome