At the Toronto International Film Festival to screen his upcoming racecar drama Ford v Ferrari, my brother’s favorite Batman, Christian Bale, was asked his thoughts on Robert Pattinson as the next Batman. While speaking with Variety, Bale gave what call a “brief, but enthusiastic” reaction to Robert Pattinson being the next person to take over the Bruce Wayne/Batman role. “Good choice!” Bale said. “He’s interesting.”
Pattinson is best known for his roles as the Byronic vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight franchise, and as the ill-fated Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and a lot of the backlash absolutely surrounds him being connected to the popular vampire franchise. Even as a former Twilight hater, I know that this kind of casting always ends up being the opposite of what people expected.
No one thought Michael Keaton or Heath Ledger would work as Batman and the Joker, yet they went on to become two of the best incarnations of those characters. Meanwhile, Jared Leto was able to make people think his version would be good despite all evidence that his incarnation was … let’s just say straight up garbage.
Overall, the idea of yet another Batman movie usually leaves me feeling lethargic. Over the weekend I visited the Batman exhibit at the Society of Illustrators in New York City, which showcases various piece from the private collections of Chip Kidd and others. While I was looking at all the piece, I found myself getting excited because in my heart of hearts I do enjoy Batman as a character. Batman is like the boyband of comic book characters. He’s just so popular and so well-loved that disliking him seems like the cool thing to do and you forget “oh he really has great stories we haven’t seen yet.”
If anything, the weight for the new movie falls onto Matt Reeves, who will be writing and directing this go-round. He has said that The Batman is an original, noir-driven story and not an origin story with only small connections to the DC Universe.
Meanwhile, when asked what Pattinson needed to know to play the role, Bale had only sensible advice. “Just be able to pee by yourself,” Bale answered. “You don’t feel like a superhero when you aren’t able to piss by yourself.”
Kristen Stewart, Pattinson’s former Twilight co-star and partner, was promoting her film Seberg at TIFF. She was also asked about Pattinson’s Batman casting. Stewart responded, “Oh man, I feel like he’s the only guy that could play that part. I am so happy for him. It’s crazy.”
Pattinson has taken the backlash to his casting in stride, and while I haven’t visited his work recently, I know from my more art house friends that he has grown as an actor. “To be honest, it was less vitriolic than I was expecting,” Pattinson recently said. “It’s much more fun when you’re an underdog. There’s no expectation of you.”
I’m looking forward to the end result when The Batman opens in theaters on June 25, 2021.
(via Indie Wire, image: Warner Bros.)
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