Robert Pattinson Details His Long Road To Being Cast As THE BATMAN & What To Expect From Matt Reeves' Film

Robert Pattinson Details His Long Road To Being Cast As THE BATMAN & What To Expect From Matt Reeves' Film

For the first time since the announcement, Robert Pattinson has shared his thoughts on being cast in the highly-coveted title role of Matt Reeves' upcoming The Batman, revealing everything he went through.

By RohanPatel - Sep 04, 2019 07:09 AM EST
Filed Under: The Batman
Source: Variety
Back in February, the rumor mill started churning with news that Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse) was possibly a lead contender for the title role in Matt Reeves' The Batman, and then in May, his casting was confirmed. Of course, the internet exploded.

Pattinson tells Variety, “When that thing leaked, I was f—ing furious. Everyone was so upset. Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing.

Luckily for the actor, he did ultimately manage to land the highly-coveted superhero role, so he can thankfully look back now and laugh at the entire ridiculous ordeal, which occurred months before he'd actually gotten an opportunity to audition in front of Reeves and Warner Bros - something he'd been trying to make happen for quite some time, possibly even his entire life. 

After getting word that Reeves was working on a new Batman script centered on a younger Bruce Wayne, Pattinson immediately sought out a meeting with the director. “I’d had Batman in my mind for a while. It’s such an absurd thing to say. I sort of had an idea to do it, and I’d been prodding Matt. He didn’t accept any prods. I kept asking to meet him.” 

While Reeves didn't seem particularly keen on meeting with Pattinson, the Rise of the Planet of the Apes director did eventually relent once he'd completed an early draft of the script, which, of course, remains top secret to this day. “And then I had to kind of try to imagine what he’d written, and I hadn’t even read the script. I’d come with this pad full of notes.

Pattinson chose to remain mum on that initial meeting, but it's probably safe to say it went relatively well considering all that's happened since. However, the casting story that broke in May did throw the former Twilight star for a major loop. “It was terrifying! I was like, ‘Oh f—! Does that screw me because they are so intent on secrecy?’"

It also appears that Variety's scoop did fast track the casting process just a bit, as Pattinson was sent new script pages during the Cannes Film Festival to read through in preparation for the final phase of his audition. "I’m literally in Cannes in my hotel room [rehearsing]. The whole thing was a lot.” Then, following The Lighthouse premiere at Cannes, Pattinson immediately got on a plane to jet back to Los Angeles to try on the Batsuit for the very first time. “It’s maybe the craziest thing I’ve ever done in terms of movie stuff.”

It's unclear which Batsuit he tried on, but the entire experience was quite transformative for the 33-year-old actor, “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.’” He adds, “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.’

Pattinson does seemingly suggest that he already has somewhat of a grasp on a unique approach to the iconic character (“You’re trying to think of the way to balance, how to bring something new to it and not want to scare people off"), but he's still working on getting accustomed to the costume. 

Less than a week after that final audition, Pattinson learned he'd gotten the part, and actually got his life-changing news while on the set of Christopher Nolan's Tenet. “I was absolutely relieved when Matt called. It’s so bizarre. I was like, ‘What a coincidence this is happening. It’s absolutely crazy.” After getting the news, he found Nolan and began asking him everything and anything he could think of to help him prepare. “I was talking about things to do with the Batsuit. How to get more movements in it.

As for whether he's signed on for more than one standalone feature, Pattinson declined to comment. “I don’t know anything. I’ve got an idea how to do about four scenes, and then I’m working on the rest gradually.” 

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Philvis
Philvis - 9/4/2019, 7:08 AM
As long as he beefs up, I'm open to his Batman. I think DC just needs to announce what the heck their plan is...connected universe or individual movies. I like the connected universe, but I think each movie shouldn't be driving a singular, bigger plot. Let them be their own movies where sometimes they team up, sometimes they don't. You don't need everything building up to a confrontation with Darkseid. Just have them exist in the same universe.
WruceBayne
WruceBayne - 9/4/2019, 9:02 AM
@Philvis - I honestly don’t think they even know what their plans are as of yet. I do think with this new Batman that you could introduce a new Superman in a couple of films and do a Worlds Finest movie.
Battabing
Battabing - 9/4/2019, 10:07 AM
@Philvis - I'm pretty sure they've said that's the current strategy.
SethBullock
SethBullock - 9/4/2019, 2:09 PM
@WruceBayne - Introducing a new Batman and a new Superman, then make a movie with both of them, that should be a sucessful plan.

And just after that they could make a Justice League movie. 😆
knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 9/4/2019, 7:09 AM
after watching his other films i'm on board with this choice.... just give us a detective Batman is all i ask ...

movement wise ironically i think Alfeck's batman moved the best and had the best Batman fight scene on screen .
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 9/4/2019, 7:16 AM
Still not into it
Kumkani
Kumkani - 9/4/2019, 7:17 AM
I like how enthusiastic he sounds about it, and he brought on his own ideas. That's usually a good sign of the kind of performance you should expect. And given that Robert is a really great actor in his own right, I'm expecting him to crush it, especially if the script is good too.

His casting really rejuvenated my excitement for this film.
GeneralZod
GeneralZod - 9/4/2019, 7:21 AM
You need a great actor, to be sure. But it's high time for the studio to put together the best Batman costume of all time. No fake muscles. No "helmet-cowl". Something like this.

Kumkani
Kumkani - 9/4/2019, 7:25 AM
@TheDoctor1225 - Daniel Cretton reminds me of Coogler quite a bit , especially with how Cretton likes to use Brie Larson like how Coogler uses MBJ. I also hear the two of them are even friends and are working on a TV show together. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if Coogler recommended the guy for Shang-Chi.

This looks good. Jamie Foxx is a surprisingly underrated actor.
tmp3
tmp3 - 9/4/2019, 7:27 AM
This guy's such a fantastic actor, and it's so cool that he lobbied for the part too. Seems incredibly enthusiastic so I'm really excited to see what he brings to the table, easily the best choice for this role in that age range. Him in Good Time was one of my favorite male performances of the last few years

Speaking of Good Time... can't heckin wait for the new Safdie Bros. film Uncut Gems
gremlin22
gremlin22 - 9/4/2019, 7:30 AM
Roger Ebert once said, "The roll of Batman is basically a jaw, it doesn't matter who plays him." I think he said that after someone asked him what he thought of Clooney. Still I like Pattinson.
tmp3
tmp3 - 9/4/2019, 7:35 AM
@TheDoctor1225 - Looks a bit generic... hopefully it's just bad trailer editing. @regularmovieguy said this is gonna be a big Oscar player, but idk
GhostDog
GhostDog - 9/4/2019, 7:36 AM
He has the potential to be the GOAT
knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 9/4/2019, 7:44 AM
@nomis i felt the same way brother till i watch his indie films with him actually acting .... good time is well done if you want a reference imo .... plus i only saw the first Twlight but he already has the brooding bruce down so that's a good start .
WakandanQueen
WakandanQueen - 9/4/2019, 7:49 AM
I'm so excited for him. He's going to kill it!
Kumkani
Kumkani - 9/4/2019, 7:51 AM
@TheDoctor1225 @regularmovieguy @tmp3 - Watching the trailer again and it does remind me a lot of Marshall, the film directed by Reginald Hudlin and with Boseman as Thurgood Marshall.
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