Robert Pattinson Isn't Fazed by His Batman Doubters: 'It's Much More Fun When You're an Underdog'
Robert Pattinson is ready to step into Batman‘s shoes — and his Batsuit.
In a new interview with Variety — his first since being confirmed as the new caped crusader — Pattinson shared that he had grown up watching the Tim Burton Batman movies and once had his own Batman costume.
“When I was a kid, it was the only outfit that I had,” he said.
After news broke that Pattinson, 33, would be taking over the role previously played by George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck, among others, the internet was divided, but the actor told Variety that he wasn’t fazed by the doubters.
“To be honest, it was less vitriolic than I was expecting,” he said, adding, “It’s much more fun when you’re an underdog. There’s no expectation of you.”
The reported three upcoming Batman films will mark Pattinson’s first blockbuster franchise since his success in the Twilight movies.
“Big movies, generally the parts aren’t as interesting — at least the stuff that was coming my way,” the actor said of why he waited so long to do another big franchise after Twilight. “I guess there was some fear … I think I probably would have been a little bit nervous to have gone straight into it immediately afterwards.”
Pattinson also said the experience of putting on the Batsuit for the first time was “transformative.”
“You do feel very powerful immediately,” he shared. “And it’s pretty astonishing, something that is incredibly difficult to get into, so the ritual of getting into it is pretty humiliating. You’ve got five people trying to shove you into something. Once you’ve got it on, it’s like, ‘Yeah, I feel strong, I feel tough, even though I had to have someone squeezing my butt cheeks into the legs.’”
“You’re trying to think of the way to balance, how to bring something new to it and not want to scare people off,” the actor said of bringing a fresh face to the famous franchise. “And work in the confines of the costume.”
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Director Matt Reeves, who was behind the last two films in the Planet of the Apes franchise, is set to direct Pattison in a trilogy of Batman films for Warner Bros. The first in the trilogy, The Batman, is expected to be released in 2021.
Reeves told The Hollywood Reporter in January that his idea for the films is “very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale.”
“It’s told very squarely on his shoulders, and I hope it’s going to be a story that will be thrilling but also emotional,” he continued. “It’s more Batman in his detective mode that we’ve seen in the films.”
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As Reeves explained, “The comics have a history of that. [Bruce Wayne] is supposed to be the world’s greatest detective, and that’s not necessarily been a part of what the movies have been.”
Affleck, 47, was the last actor to play Batman on the big screen in 2016’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017’s Justice League.
The Batman is expected to hit theaters in June 2021. Pattinson can next be seen in upcoming movies The King and The Lighthouse.
