Robert Pattinson opened up for the first time about his casting as the Caped Crusader in Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman, revealing that, ope, people found out about it way too soon. In fact, the conflicting reports saying that Nicholas Hoult was also up for the role were absolutely correct. “When that thing leaked, I was fucking furious,” Pattinson told Variety in a new cover story. “Everyone was so upset. Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing.” That worry was intense, Pattinson reveals, as he says he’s been chasing the role for, as Variety puts it, “longer than anyone knew.”
“I’d had Batman in my mind for a while,” he said. “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.” They did meet, eventually, and, despite the misreported announcements of his casting, Pattinson was still invited to try on the Batsuit as part of his final audition.
“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 continued, “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.’”
There was plenty of whingeing online when Pattinson was cast, with casual fans unable to get past Pattinson’s glittery Twilight days, despite the actor having worked with everyone from David Cronenberg and James Gray to the Safdie Brothers and Claire Denis. Still, nobody was expecting blowback more than Pattinson, who’s never been shy about taking jabs at the franchise that made him a star. “To be honest, it was less vitriolic than I was expecting,” he cracked. “It’s much more fun when you’re an underdog. There’s no expectation of you.”
Pattinson’s plenty busy until he dons the cowl, however. Not only does he have The King and The Lighthouse on the way, but he’ll also be starring in Christopher Nolan’s mysterious Tenet.