Robert Pattinson getting cast as The Batman was a big surprise for DC Comics and Batman movie fans. It was also (obviously) a big deal for Robert Pattinson himself, who got the news that he would star in Matt Reeves’ The Batman at a pretty inopportune moment: the day he was starting work on Christopher Nolan’s Tenet! Indeed, while Pattinson was apparently trying to slip into his mysterious espionage agent from Tenet, he was also dealing with the news leaking (and later confirmed) that he was going to be the next Bruce Wayne / Batman. So if you doubt that Robert Pattinson is an actor that can multitask – don’t.
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Gamesradar had an interview with Robert Pattinson, detailing (among other things) how the actor is dealing with the delay in filming The Batman, due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the interview also got nostalgic, as Pattinson shared the anecdote about going in to shoot Tenet, only to learn that he was Batman:
“The morning of the first day,” Pattinson said about getting the Batman call, while filming Tenet. “It was kind of insane. It was a very, very intense weekend. That was a crazy way to start Chris’ film. [laughs] I think I was doing the [Batman] screen test, as well, on the Saturday before I started.”
It’s better to be a busy actor, than an actor waiting by the phone, no? Seriously though, Pattinson has been on something of a career resurgence lately, and that little anecdote pretty much encapsulates the moment that resurgence hit its fast streak. Starring in a Nolan movie while getting a job as the next Batman is about as good as it gets in Hollywood today. Pattinson has definitely earned it, though: the Safdie Bros.’ crime-thriller Good Time put him back on Hollywood’s radar of “actor’s actor” talent; Pattinson impressed audiences again last year, in Robert Eggers new horror film, The Lighthouse. As we broke down on our ComicBook Nation Podcast, Pattinson also looks like he will be a charismatic hit in Tenet – perhaps the only actor with a lively pulse in that film.
As for The Batman: obviously there was a lot of initial skepticism when the former Twilight star was cast as The Dark Knight. However, the initial video and photo teasers that director Matt Reeves have put out are starting to turn opinion around. Pattinson certainly has the face to fill in the cowl, and his body can be sculpted as appropriate to the character. If all goes well, Pattinson will be in 2022 looking back on that first day on Tenet as the start of the best part of his career.
Tenet is still looking at a theatrical release in 2020. The Batman has been pushed back to October 2021.
