The Batman star Robert Pattinson is approaching the character with the mindset of the smaller, more left field projects the actor became known for in the wake of his Twilight success. Like his character in horror-fantasy The Lighthouse, Pattinson wants his approach to the Dark Knight to be “frightening,” and “something you lose yourself in.” Next appearing in the Christopher Nolan-directed Tenet — a large-scale film shrouded in secrecy — Pattinson was drawn back to blockbuster movie-making out of a desire to again do something on a big stage. That’s how he landed on Matt Reeves’ The Batman, Pattinson’s first time stepping into the superhero genre.
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“I wanted to do something on a big stage, and so I ended up doing Chris Nolan’s movie, which I was really, really happy about at the beginning of this year. And then Batman was kind of a surprise to me,” Pattinson told the BBC when promoting The Lighthouse. “Now that I’m starting to get into it, I don’t want to approach it as kind of a big studio thing where all you’re really doing is thinking about your trailer. I want to approach it in exactly the same way, I want it to be frightening, I want it to be something you lose yourself in.”
Following the three-movie turns of Christian Bale and Ben Affleck, Pattinson’s caped crusader is the third live-action movie Batman in the past decade. Taking the encompassing indie approach, Pattinson admits, is harder to do when tackling a character as well-recognized as DC Comics’ leading superhero.
“I think it’s more difficult to do, because it’s such a familiar character to lots of people, but I think there’s something, I don’t know. If you can find a place, a way to lose yourself in it, then I think it’s really exciting,” he said.
By the time of The Batman, Pattinson’s fresher Bruce Wayne is already established as Gotham City’s self-sworn protector. According to a reported plot synopsis, Batman will use his world-class detective skills to solve a “mystery/conspiracy connected to Gotham City’s history and criminals.” Unraveling this mystery will bring him into conflict with multiple members of his rogues gallery, including Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), Riddler (Paul Dano) and Penguin, the latter a role that has yet to be filled.
This Batman will be helped along by Commissioner Jim Gordon, played here by Jeffrey Wright.
Warner Bros. has set The Batman for June 25, 2021.
