Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz and director Matt Reeves dive into the darker tale of ‘The Batman’

The stars and writer-director of ‘The Batman’ talk about filling in a lesser-discussed timeline in Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle’s lives, and giving it a noir edge

In the summer of 2019, when word spread that Robert Pattinson was cast as Bruce Wayne AKA Batman in a new film directed by Matt Reeves, there were waves of mixed reactions. Predictably, those against the casting had typecast the now-35-year-old actor for his work on the Twilight films. But those in favour pointed out that Pattinson had proved his dramatic chops in films such as Remember Me (2010) and Cosmopolis (2012); in both projects, he plays a dysfunctional man of considerable wealth battling some inner demons. Sound familiar?

Following The Batman announcement, Pattinson was under a new microscope placed by DC Comics superfans but the actor – who often chuckles at people’s opinion that he only plays “total freaks” and points out Batman is “the crowning jewel of these characters” – let his work speak for itself: A24’s The Lighthouse (2019), Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (2020), The Devil All The Time (2020) and The King (2020).

So as the world neared the spring 2022 release date for The Batman, there was more anticipation than apprehension in seeing Pattinson and Reeves’ approaches to Bruce Wayne’s early years. The odds were further in Pattinson’s favour when, in February 2020, Warner Bros Pictures released a rather convincing first-look image of the actor in Batman’s cowl.

The film also stars Paul Dano as The Riddler, Colin Farrell as Penguin, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth and Jeffery Wright as James Gordon.

During a press interaction, Reeves, Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz are all smiles – a far cry from the latter two’s on-screen personas, the latter playing Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman. Pattinson had long been vocal about giving “an immediate yes” to playing Bruce Wayne, associating the tale of the brooding billionaire with tragedy. 

Inspired by 1987’s Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli, as well as Nirvana’s ‘Something In The Way’, Reeves wants to draw audiences in from the start and he weaved a bit of a psychological game into The Batman‘s opening shot, explaining it is “something I saw when I thought of The Riddler (Paul Dano). When I go to movies, I love the idea of putting the audience in an empathic relationship with the characters. I wanted to start the movie with the giant title ‘The Batman’ and start with this breathing where you’re seeing something from someone’s point-of-view, so audiences wonder ‘is this the Batman?’ but you realise it’s The Riddler.”

The director — known for the newer Planet of the Apes films and the Cloverfield films — gets candid about the frenetic undercurrent for a film of this scale: “The blank page is like being in a dark room on your hands and knees and you’re reaching for something familiar. I knew I wanted to take this iteration of a younger Batman who was early in his arc with room for growth.”