THE BATMAN Star Robert Pattinson Recalls Donning A '90s Batsuit For His "Nightmare" Screen Test

THE BATMAN Star Robert Pattinson Recalls Donning A '90s Batsuit For His "Nightmare" Screen Test

The Batsuits worn by Val Kilmer and George Clooney have not aged well, and The Batman star Robert Pattinson has now recalled the "nightmare" experience of having to don a 90s Batsuit for his screen test.

By JoshWilding - Jan 24, 2022 06:01 AM EST
Filed Under: The Batman

The Batman was supposed to arrive in theaters last year, but after what's felt like countless release date delays caused by the pandemic, the Dark Knight will finally swoop back onto the big screen this March. Director Matt Reeves has put together an insanely talented cast of actors for his spin of the character, including Robert Pattinson as a very different Bruce Wayne to previous iterations.

The actor recently spoke to Japanese publication Eiga, and reflected on the screen test that started his journey as the new Caped Crusader. Unfortunately, it wasn't a particularly enjoyable experience.

"I think [the screen test suit] was George Clooney," reads the translation (via Reddit). "It looks cool, but it feels like a nightmare. I can't move. I was sweating all the time, and I was scared that I couldn't do anything with this [Laughs]. My suit is not only very cool, but it's also incredibly well designed. Even if I play a fight scene with a lot of movement, I can move anyway."

You may have seen some headlines today declaring that Pattinson donned the Batman and Robin Batsuit, but Pattinson's comments actually contradict what Reeves said last year. "Rob was literally wearing Val Kilmer's Batsuit," he told IGN. "Which, by the way, was a crazy moment."

We're guessing it probably was the Batman Forever Batsuit, though why Warner Bros. would use that and not the Batsuits from The Dark Knight Trilogy or Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is anyone's guess. Either way, we hope footage of this screen test is eventually shared online!

The Batman is set to be released in theaters on March 4.

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Gmoney84
Gmoney84 - 1/24/2022, 7:03 AM
His suit does look to be the most user friendly and mobile of all the film suits. Minus Adam West that is. :)
Tasmaniac
Tasmaniac - 1/24/2022, 7:05 AM
Erm, I would think the reason they used that one rather than the Batfleck one is simply because of size: Affleck was huge. Don’t know about the DK one though. How tall is Bale?
solskulldeath
solskulldeath - 1/24/2022, 9:38 AM
@Tasmaniac - i guess bale and pattinson are almost identical based on their size. even Christian bale audition for the dark knight also use the val killer bat suit
Fares
Fares - 1/24/2022, 7:11 AM
Good time to pull up that one edit I made ages ago. George Clooney could've been an incredible Batman under the right circumstances. Not to say that I don't like the interpretation he gave us though. I'm all for that Batman & Robin camp.

bkmeijer2
bkmeijer2 - 1/24/2022, 7:53 AM
@Fares - with the black colour and witout the nipples it looks pretty damn good. If it toned down on the abs, it would've made a great Batman suit
ManDeth
ManDeth - 1/24/2022, 8:12 AM
@Fares - Clooney can't act. He does the "Just be yourself" method which is pretty much what the average TV weather man does.
Fares
Fares - 1/24/2022, 8:38 AM
@ManDeth - Yeah he may be himself in almost every movie, but I wouldn't say he can't act.
Plus, Batman isn't exactly the most complex character out there when it comes to physical expression. You basically have to switch between brooding and Playboy, and Clooney already got the Playboy down.
SimplyAz
SimplyAz - 1/24/2022, 8:45 AM
@Fares -

Love the edit man.
Definitely think Clooney would have been great under the right Director.
Pretty much was Bruce Wayne for most of his adult life.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 1/24/2022, 7:18 AM
He is not complaining about the nipples, he is complaining about how stiff it was.
All actors who wore those suits (including the Keaton one) agreed on how they couldnt move or hear anything.

Still weird how every Batman actor for the past 20 years had to audition with that suit.
Tasmaniac
Tasmaniac - 1/24/2022, 7:31 AM
@TheHumanSpider2 - It’s a reminder. Because those that forget the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 1/24/2022, 9:04 AM
@Tasmaniac - I think is probably Kilmer had the most "average" body, Keaton's was too small, Affleck was too big.
ogrodafloresta
ogrodafloresta - 1/24/2022, 7:42 AM
This suits maybe still being used for a lot of reasons. Keaton is a short guy, Ben is taller than most (and was bulkier), Bale was “larger” during Batman Begins and the latter suits were probably made to fit his (now) slimmer body to the milimitter.

Val and Clooney look more “average” than the former, so it probably fits better in a “average” body.

Another good reason: their suits maybe more durable than the others. Don’t know if you guys saw this, but it was either Snyder or Affleck that said that the cowl they used to film the epilogue for The Snyder Cut was already falling to pieces — and only a handful of years had passed.
WruceBayne
WruceBayne - 1/24/2022, 7:43 AM
Christian Bale and Cillian Murphy both wore Val Kilmer’s suit too in their auditions. I think that’s the suit to wear in these screen tests.
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 1/24/2022, 8:26 AM
Why do they make them wear these extremely old suits??

HulkisHoly
HulkisHoly - 1/24/2022, 9:24 AM
@Nightwing1015 -

Probably just whatever WB has extras of
BecauseICare
BecauseICare - 1/24/2022, 9:25 AM
I can see them using the Robin suit to see how it looked on Pattison because he's nowhere NEAR as bulky and big as an Affleck. Same with Bale. As far a size and stature is concerned he's probably a better fit to Keaton because he's only a couple inches taller and his stature looks to be around the same. (Although not for nothing, Pattinson looks REALLY skinny in the trailers.)
regularmovieguy
regularmovieguy - 1/24/2022, 9:50 AM
Kilmer’s suit seems to be the suit everyone screen tests with. Bale did the same.
Shivermetimbers
Shivermetimbers - 1/24/2022, 10:39 AM
Bring back the bat-nips
bobevanz
bobevanz - 1/24/2022, 11:37 AM
As is tradition
HarryBloodscreaming
HarryBloodscreaming - 1/24/2022, 11:54 AM
Here’s hoping THE BATMAN marks the end of movies where Batman is dressed like a sculpted rubber statue, buried under inches of perpetually flexed, petrified “muscles”.
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 1/24/2022, 12:12 PM
Always interesting to hear how the evolution of super-suits is going. Batman in particular is always a conflict between the clean lines of the cowl-to-cape connection vs. the actor being able to move his neck. Pattinson's collar is a big swing away from the classic design, but definitely more functional.

With Batman movies being as expensive as they are, I've sort of been expecting that they'll try an all-CG neck at some point. Now that we've got flawless face-replace on Vision on a TV show, a strip of dark amorphous material in mostly-dark scenes is quite achievable. And once they commit to it, I expect it will solve a lot of problems.
4thMaster
4thMaster - 1/24/2022, 3:44 PM
@Spock0Clock - I think Affleck's suit did well in keeping it clean and movable, unlike Pattinson and Bale, which maybe has it's own compromises or maybe Reevee's just didn't care about it given how busy the suit looks, just like Nolan's 2nd suit was very busy too overall.
JonC
JonC - 1/24/2022, 2:44 PM
per the story... "but Pattinson's comments actually contradict what Reeves said last year. "Rob was literally wearing Val Kilmer's Batsuit,""

Pattinson clearly says "I think" when he states what costume he was wearing... as in "i don't know for sure, but i think its this".

How does "i think" become a definitive statement where Pattinson is contradicting himself?
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