Robert Pattinson has already tried on his Batsuit for The Batman. After Ben Affleck officially bowed out of playing The Caped Crusader for a fourth time following his turns in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Justice League, speculation immediately began firing as to which actor would be next to take on the iconic role of Batman for DC and WB. Many were shocked when the chosen actor turned out to be Twilight star Pattinson.
Of course, long before Pattinson was picked, The Batman writer-director Matt Reeves had already indicated that his film would focus on a younger Bruce Wayne. The 33-year-old Pattinson certainly fits the younger actor mold, at least as compared to the 47-year-old Affleck, but the actor nevertheless seemed an unlikely choice given his recent forays into low-budget independent film and seeming desire to leave the franchise movie experience far behind. Naturally, the choice of Pattinson was met with a lot of consternation by some corners of DC fandom, but others quickly rushed to defend the casting, citing Pattinson’s interesting resume playing dark and complex characters.
Regardless of the feelings of Batman fans who are not sure about the Pattinson casting, The Batman is moving forward with Pattinson in the lead role. As the actor revealed in a recent interview with Variety, that process has indeed already moved on to him trying on the iconic Batsuit for the first time. The experience of donning Batman’s costume appears to have been a profound but also uncomfortable one for Pattinson, who said:
“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.’ 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 also talked about the process of learning to move in the Batsuit, and mentioned getting some pointers from a man who is well-versed in all things related to The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan himself. Pattinson and Nolan are of course working together currently on the director’s mysterious new thriller Tenet, and Pattinson said he took the opportunity to “pepper” Nolan with questions about how to move in the restrictive Batman costume.
So, it seems Pattinson is well on his way to getting comfortable in his new Batman costume, and even figuring out the intricacies of how to physically perform as Batman. It remains to be seen however when or if audiences will become comfortable with the idea of Pattinson playing Batman. Those who still see Pattinson as Edward Cullen in Twilight may struggle with the idea of the actor tackling Bruce Wayne and all his complexity, but those who've witnessed his performances in movies like High Life, Good Time and Cosmopolis are surely much more convinced that Pattinson can carry the weight of not only the Batsuit but the entire Batman persona in The Batman.
Source: Variety
