Robert Pattinson To Become The Next Batman (Maybe)
by Erik Amaya
From Hogwarts to Forks to Gotham, Robert Pattinson is getting closer to getting a fandom bingo.
Variety reports the former Twilight Saga star will play Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ upcoming film The Batman. Though the deal is not yet closed, it would appear he will be the latest version of the 80 year old character. Previous actors to take on the cape and cowl include Adam West, Michael Keaton, George Clooney and Ben Affleck.
In fact, Affleck was once set to star in The Batman as well as write and direct the picture. Unfortunately, his vision for the caped crusader began to differ with Warner Bros. Pictures plans for the character as their faith in the so-called DC Extended Universe spearheaded by Zack Snyder began to wane. That film would have seen Affleck’s Batman take on Deathstroke, a master assassin with a habit for clipping the wings of Robins. Joe Manganiello was signed to play the part before it collapsed.
Reeves’ take on the character will see him returning to his younger days, but do not expect the film to be another Batman Begins. The director has said the film will more closely resemble a film noir with Batman finally using his detective skills on screen. It will also eschew any extensive origin as, by now, almost every person on the planet knows what happened to Bruce Wayne in Crime Alley and what it led him to become.
Pattinson is the first actor to become connected with the project since Reeves took the creative reins from Affleck. After Twilight completed its run, Pattinson chose to appear in smaller pictures like Bel Ami (pictured above). The Batman will be his return to large-scale pictures.
Of course, as nothing is certain, other sites are reporting Pattinson is not yet in negotiations, but he is high on Warner Bros’s list alongside Dark Phoenix‘s Nicholas Holt. One imagines this will shake out soon enough with a more definite outcome.
The Batman will being pre-production this summer.
