‘The Batman’ Director Knew Some Fans Would Disapprove of Robert Pattinson Because of ‘Twilight’
When The Batman director Matt Reeves announced Robert Pattinson would portray the next big-screen Caped Crusader, some DC Comics fans were left confused. And according to Reeves, he knew they would be because of Pattinson’s work on the Twilight films.
‘The Batman’ star Robert Pattinson is most known for his ‘Twilight’ role
Pattinson started his career in theater at a young age. And he broke into films in 2005 when he landed the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
But in 2008, the actor became an overnight sensation when he made his debut as the brooding vampire Edward Cullen in Twilight. He appeared in all five films of the franchise until 2012.
Pattinson’s career is overshadowed by Twilight. But he’s worked on several critically-acclaimed projects that he doesn’t get enough credit for, including the 2017 movie Good Time, in which he portrays a criminal trying to free a brother that has a mental illness.
Pattinson recently starred in Netflix’s The Devil All the TIme opposite Tom Holland. In the movie, he plays a morally corrupt preacher who rapes a young girl, gets her pregnant, and then abandons her.
Matt Reeves knew some fans wouldn’t approve of Robert Pattinson for ‘The Batman’
When most DC fans think of Batman, they think of the Dark Knight, a dark, gritty figure who gets his hands dirty with the worst of Gotham. So when Reeves announced Pattinson would play the superhero in The Batman, those who didn’t know of his work outside of Twilight may have been confused.
And according to the director, he knew his decision would spark disapproval. And he knew it would all be because of Pattinson’s role as Edward Cullen.
“There has been no actor when his announcement that he was going to be playing Batman in one of the feature films was announced, that has not received a backlash,” Reeves told Esquire.
“The people who were excited, I knew it was because they knew Rob’s work post-Twilight, ” he added. “The people who weren’t excited, I knew it was because they didn’t know Rob’s work post-Twilight.”
‘The Batman’ director knew Robert Pattinson would be perfect because of his dramatic work
Pattinson admittedly campaigned for the role of Bruce Wayne in Reeves’ The Batman. But according to the filmmaker, he didn’t need much convincing because he’d seen a lot of the actor’s post-Twilight dramatic work.
“Of course, the idea was to make him a younger actor,” Reeves told Esquire when talking about the upcoming movie’s dive into the superhero’s first years as a crime fighter. “And in the process of writing the movie, I watched Good Time, and I thought, ‘Okay, he’s got an inner kind of rage that connects with this character and a dangerousness, and I can feel this desperation.”
“And I became dead-set on it being Rob,” he continued. “And I had no idea if Rob had any interest! Because, of course, he had done all of these indie movies after he established himself in Twilight.”
Fans will get to see how well Pattinson fits into the cape and cowl when The Batman hits theaters on March 4, 2022.
