4 Years Later, Robert Pattinson Reveals the Cult Batman Comic That Inspired His Version, And Not Even Chris Nolan Cited It

September 25, 2026, 4:01pm

Across the 21st Century, almost every new iteration of Batman on the big screen has drawn from a few key comics to tell its story. Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins pulled from Batman: Year One as one of its biggest inspirations, while the version played by Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman had more in common with The Dark Knight Returns. In short, the influence of Frank Miller’s work on the character was still palpable decades later, and though some of it can still be seen in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, the latest actor to wear the cape and cowl had another comic that he was particularly inspired by, and its one no other creative involved in Batman movies has cited.

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Speaking in an interview with GQ, Robert Pattinson opened up about making The Batman and revealed that even though he read a lot of comics to get in the right mindset, it wasn’t until he found the collection Batman: Shaman that he found a take on the character that spoke to him and said something no other live-action version had done before. “(Batman: Shaman) was all about the kind of metaphysical aspects of what the symbolism of the specific bat means and just trying to abstract the idea. It’s taking away the logic of becoming Batman and saying, ‘No, I’m becoming this other thing.’ And it’s not just to scare the criminal; it’s for yourself.”

Robert Pattinson Details the Batman Comic That Most Inspired Him

Written by iconic writer Dennis O’Neil and featuring art by Ed Hannigan and John Beatty, the comic tells the story of a Batman in the earliest days of his time as the hero, revealing an encounter before becoming the hero when he’s healed by a shaman and told a sacred story of the bat’s origins. When the iconic moment of a bat crashing through a Wayne Manor window occurs, it fuels him to become the hero after he recalls the tale itself. For Pattinson, the story gave him a deeper understanding of what it would mean to embody the character and how every decision he makes is tied into the core of his being.

“(Batman: Shaman) was all about the kind of metaphysical aspects of what the symbolism of the specific bat means and just trying to abstract the idea. It’s taking away the logic of becoming Batman and saying, ‘No, I’m becoming this other thing.’ And it’s not just to scare the criminal; it’s for yourself. It’s because you feel a profound connection with this creature that you’ve created, which you then think you’re becoming or that it truly is you, even though you’ve constructed it yourself.”

Pattinson went on to reveal that this defined how he approached his scenes of wearing the full costume when he had to share the screen with other characters, revealing that Batman: Shaman drew him to understand that for Bruce this wasn’t just an outfit meant to intimidate the criminals he was pursuing, but it was part of him.

“I’m doing so many conversations and things in this outfit, and I’m like, you have to believe that it’s not an outfit and it’s just your skin,” Pattinson added. “I was trying to draw a lot from that one comic. I thought it was very helpful.”

The good news for fans who loved this take on Batman and are eager to see Pattinson’s distinct approach to the character continue is that filming on the second movie is underway right now, though The Batman: Part II won’t make it to theaters until 2028.