Ever since The Batman came in cinemas, eagle-eyed viewers are spotting Easter eggs throughout the film, one of which nods to the role that secured Robert Pattinson’s casting as the caped crusader. Delayed by the global pandemic, The Batman was released to much critical acclaim, with many praising Pattinson’s performance as a breath of fresh air for the character. Rather than focusing on the contrast between Bruce Wayne and Batman, Reeves’ film focuses instead dominantly on the masked hero as he attempts to track down The Riddler via a series of gruesome clues.
Gaining fame for his role in the teen-fantasy Twilight series, Robert Pattinson's movie career has been defined with several interesting performances. His intermission period between heart-throb vampire and heart-broken vigilante has seen him appear in large blockbusters such as The Lost City of Z and Tenet, but the actor has also had integral roles outside of major box office movies, starring in High Life, The King and The Lighthouse to name but a few. These performances have allowed Pattinson to shed his franchise persona, and each can be considered to have informed his take on Batman.
It was Pattinson’s performance in the Safdie brothers’ Good Time, however, that was key in securing his role as the DC superhero, according to director Matt Reeves, who stated he knew the actor was his casting for Batman upon seeing him in Good Time. Reeves celebrated the announcement that Pattinson would be starring in his film with a Tweet that included a gif of the actor’s performance in the 2017 indie film, and the references to Robert Pattinson’s casting origin do not end there. A close examination of The Batman’s opening act provides an Easter egg to the Safdies’ film, when one of the Gotham City corner shops being held at gunpoint is revealed to have the name “Good Times.”
The short sequence nods to the Safdies’ film in more ways than one. Aside from the name being a clear reference to the film’s title, the robber’s red jacket and direct, panicked approach to the crime similarly mirror the events of Good Time’s opening sequence, in which Pattinson’s Connie and his brother Nick flee a bank after a botched robbery. Reeves has stated that the actor’s performance in the indie film was the driving force behind his decision to cast Pattinson as Batman, making the Easter egg not only a call-out to the actor’s previous movie, but reference the role that was effectively this Batman’s origin story.
Hidden details like this demonstrate that The Batman is a film that will benefit from multiple viewings. The film contains many Easter eggs to the wider DC universe, but this opening nod to Pattinson’s previous work shows what drew the director to the actor in the first place. The bottled-up rage and anxiety of Good Time certainly informed Pattinson’s performance in The Batman, presenting a take on Bruce Wayne that appears fresh and original on the big screen.