'The Batman': Resurfaced Robert Pattinson interview offers insight into DC deal
Casual film fans and cineastes were equally shocked when Robert Pattinson was confirmed as the next Batman. Casual fans because they only know him from Twilight, cineastes because they’ve followed Pattison’s fascinating indie career, which seemed to be taking him on a path as far away from franchises as possible.
So why did the actor agree to pull on the cape and cowl? As it turns out, the answer’s been in front of us all along.
In 2017, Pattinson guested on The Howard Stern Show, and Stern asked him point blank why he’s never done a superhero movie. The Show has reposted the interview, because it’s suddenly very relevant.
“I’ve never auditioned for one,” Pattinson replied. “For one thing, you have to sign up to do eight movies. And I’d just got out of five, so I was like ‘eight is just a lot.’”
Read more: New Batman casting went right down to the wire
“It all depends on the character,” he continued. “It’s always difficult to know. But that’s definitely what made me hesitant before. Because when you’re just an individual, you really have to commit to working within a huge machine.”
This is interesting for SO MANY reasons. For one, Pattinson shot the last of those five Twilight movies in 2010, which means he’s probably talking about the MCU (Marvel notoriously asked their main actors to sign on for as many as nine movies during that early negotiation period). What Avenger could he have played? Let the speculation begin!
But it’s also interesting in relation to The Batman. Previous reports have made it sound like Matt Reeves’ take on the character has been mapped out as a trilogy, and this would seem to confirm that - no eight-movie run for R-Patz.
Read more: Robert Pattinson confirmed for new Batman trilogy
That means that The Batman, or whatever it ends up being called, is going to be a focused three-part story, with a definitive end.
Just as Christian Bale didn’t pop up outside of his trilogy, we’re not expecting to see Robert in a Justice League sequel any time soon.
That’s definitely a good thing, as anything that takes the WB DC movies closer to the Nolan era is a great idea in our Bat-book.
The Batman will be released on 25 June 2021.
