From the first look at Matt Reeves’ The Batman, you could tell this version of the vigilante hero wouldn’t be like the others. This Batman—played by Robert Pattinson—is lanky, moody, and looks like he’s the frontman of a band rather than someone who regularly fights off Gotham’s villains.
The use of a slowed-down, remixed version of Nirvana’s “Something In The Way” in the first official trailer set the mood, too. This Batman apparently loves to sulk. Reeves previously mentioned in an interview with Empire that he envisioned this Bruce Wayne as being a “fictionalized version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor.” And now he has further explained how this Batman will feel akin to the late Nirvana frontman in a new interview with Esquire.
“Early on, when I was writing, I started listening to Nirvana, and there was something about [Nevermind song] ‘Something In The Way’, which is in the first trailer, which is part of the voice of that character,” says Reeves.
He continues, “When I considered, ‘How do you do Bruce Wayne in a way that hasn’t been seen before?’ I started thinking, ‘What if some tragedy happened [ie: Wayne sees his parents murdered] and this guy becomes so reclusive, we don’t know what he’s doing? Is this guy some kind of wayward, reckless, drug addict?”
While it would make sense for Bruce Wayne, a man who has experienced tragedy, to turn to substances to cope, those aren’t the drugs Reeves had in mind. The filmmaker says, “His drug is his addiction to this drive for revenge. He’s like a Batman Kurt Cobain.”
It’s pretty cringe-inducing that of all things Cobain represented (including being anti-fascist), Reeves fixated on the addiction part. But, we guess the sliver of silver lining is that, at least, Pattinson is the perfect guy to play a brooding Batman.
You’ll get to see how this Batman Kurt Cobain stacks up against the rest of the Batmen when The Batman hits theaters on March 4.