Robert Pattinson Was “F-ing Furious” Over Batman Leak

Earlier this summer, Warner Bros. officially moved on from Ben Affleck’s take on Batman by casting former Twilight star and indie darling Robert Pattinson to don the cape and cowl in Matt Reeves‘ upcoming reinvention of the character. The reporting of Pattinson’s casting was a bit of a roller coaster in the moment, as the initial piece of news said that the role was his. Others that followed said that he was still in contract negotiations while others claimed that Nicholas Hoult was still auditioning opposite Pattinson for the part. Things were all over the place for a few days and, according to Pattinson, it was all premature.

During a new interview with Variety, Pattinson said that he was furious when he saw the news leak, because he was still trying to land the role. He felt that, since these superhero roles are so secretive, the report might make the studio turn elsewhere.

“When that thing leaked, I was f—ing furious,” Pattinson said. “Everyone was so upset. Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing.”

Pattinson then explained that he was in a panic on his flight to Cannes so he began searching for more information online, wondering if anyone was reporting that the leak had cost him the job. About an hour into the flight, he realized that he was sitting next to Mission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie.

“I was sitting next to Christopher McQuarrie. I’d never met him before,” he added. “Oh, God! He’d seen me Googling myself for the past hour!”

Much to Pattinson’s surprise, McQuarrie totally understood the situation. He told him, “No worries. I’d probably be doing the same thing.”

Before actually landing the role, Pattinson had to do one full screen test in the Batsuit, which took place just a day or two after the initial panic on the plane. Following the premiere of The Lighthouse at Cannes, the actor flew back to Los Angeles to try on the suit with director Matt Reeves.

“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,’” Pattinson 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.’”

Of course, Pattinson wound up landing the highly-coveted role, and he’s slated to star as Bruce Wayne in The Batman in 2021.