‘The Batman’ Guide: 14 Details to Know About Robert Pattinson’s Debut as the Caped Crusader

“The Batman” Will Not Be an Origin Story

Director Matt Reeves stated in April 2020 that fans should not expect to see a young, orphaned Bruce Wayne find his calling in “The Batman.” In fact, the film is not an origin story at all. 

“The thing I related to in the Batman story is that he isn’t a superhero in the traditional sense,” Reeves explained. “If he has a superpower, it’s the ability to endure…He’s a very alive character, and to tell a version of Batman that wasn’t about how he became Batman, but the early days of being Batman…to see it in new ways, that was a way to do something that hasn’t been done.” 

Reeves’ cinematic influences for “The Batman” include “Chinatown,” “The French Connection,” and “Taxi Driver.” The “War for the Planet of the Apes” director co-wrote the script with Mattson Tomlin, and “The Batman” features cinematography from Oscar-nominated DP Greig Fraser, who also shot Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming “Dune,” as well as “Lion” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”

Reeves pitched “The Batman” as a “very psychological” exploration of the corruption behind Gotham City. “I wanted to do not an origin tale, but a tale that would still acknowledge his origins, in that it formed who he is,” Reeves said to Nerdist in April 2020. “Like this guy, he’s majorly struggling, and this is how he’s trying to rise above that struggle. But that doesn’t mean that he even fully understands, you know. It’s that whole idea of the shadow self and what’s driving you, and how much of that you can incorporate, and how much of it you’re doing that you’re unaware of.” 

The intersection of politics, crime and crumbling trust in government also felt timely to the director. “I think it always does. There’s almost no time when you can’t do a story about corruption,” Reeves concluded. “But today, it still seems incredibly resonant and maybe, from my perspective, maybe more so than maybe at other times.”

Ben Affleck Was First Linked to “The Batman”

Previous Batman Ben Affleck was supposed to be involved in “The Batman,” and not just to play Bruce Wayne but co-write the script and also direct.

However, the Oscar winner stepped away from his directing duties on the project in 2017, vowing to stay on as a producer and star. “It has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require,” Affleck told Variety at the time. “Together with the studio, I have decided to find a partner in a director who will collaborate with me on this massive film. I am still in this, and we are making it.”

Matt Reeves was announced soon thereafter as the new director, and Affleck’s script was massively reworked. “If they want me to get involved, then I have to do it in a way that I feel like I understand, or I won’t do a good job,” Reeves revealed to MTV’s Happy Sad Confused Podcast, via THR. “I have to understand it emotionally.” 

By January 2019, Affleck had fully parted ways with “The Batman,” and Reeves announced he would handpick Gotham’s new Caped Crusader.

How Robert Pattinson Became Batman

By May 2019, Robert Pattinson had officially joined the ranks of Affleck, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Michael Keaton, and Christian Bale as Batman. Yet, the casting leak made Pattinson “furious,” as he later vented to Variety. “It was terrifying,” the “Tenet” star revealed in September 2019. “I was like, ‘Oh fuck! Does that screw me because they are so intent on secrecy?” 

Pattinson was publicly known as Batman only five days after his audition, but the actor had been eyeing the project for some time. “I’d had Batman in my mind for a while,” Pattinson admitted. “It’s such an absurd thing to say. I sort of had an idea to do it, and I’d been prodding Matt. He didn’t accept any prods. I kept asking to meet him.” 

He continued, “It’s actually an interesting part. I think it’s because he doesn’t have any superpowers.” 

However, Pattinson’s casting did ruffle a few bat wings. “To be honest, it was less vitriolic than I was expecting,” Pattinson said of the “Twilight”-driven backlash. “It’s much more fun when you’re an underdog. There’s no expectation of you.”

Zoë Kravitz Stars as Catwoman

All hail the casting gods, Zoë Kravitz is slinking into “The Batman” as iconic character Catwoman. Kravitz mused on the feminine duality of the seductive cat burglar persona in the historic franchise, previously portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Berry and Anne Hathaway.

“I think Catwoman, Selina Kyle, represents really strong femininity, and I’m excited to dive into that,” Kravitz told Slashfilm. “I think femininity represents power, and I think it’s a different kind of power than masculine power. That’s something that’s really interesting about Batman and Catwoman. I think Batman represents a very kind of masculine power, and Catwoman represents very feminine power — slightly more complicated, and softer, too. I like the idea that you can be soft, you can be gentle and still be very powerful and still be very dangerous.” 

Kravitz also observed how cats and lions fight in real life to mimick a “feline, dance-like movement” with martial arts stunts. 

Paul Dano Plays the Riddler After Jonah Hill Exits

In an elusive game of bait and switch, Jonah Hill walked away from Warner Bros. after being unable to reach a deal for The Riddler role in “The Batman.” Enter: “Prisoners” star Paul Dano. 

The multi-hyphenate talent was cast as the twisted trickster villain in October 2019, following his Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his turn in Showtime’s “Escape at Dannemora.” Dano previously made his directorial debut with “Wildlife,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan. 

While The Riddler’s backstory in “The Batman” has been kept under wraps (literally…Dano’s face was entirely covered in the trailer), certain Internet sleuths have speculated that The Riddler will draw inspiration from the infamous Zodiac Killer. Dano’s character is also listed as Edward Nashton, and not The Riddler’s true identity, Edward Nygma. What a puzzle, indeed.

Yes, That’s Colin Farrell as The Penguin

Colin Farrell fully transformed into the role of Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin. Farrell worked with “The Irishman” prosthetic makeup artist Mike Marino to abandon any of his own physical traits and completely disappear into the Gotham club owner role.

“Mike Marino is a genius. He’s an absolute and veritable genius,” Farrell raved on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, via Collider. “When I saw what Mike did, the whole character made sense to me. I swear to God, I saw what he did, and I just went ‘OK,’ and I got really excited about it. All that to say that if anyone ever thinks what I do at ‘The Batman’ is a decent performance, I’ll gladly take 49% of the credits.”

“The North Water” star was so unrecognizable that even his co-stars were shocked. Jeffrey Wright, who plays Commissioner Gordon, thought Farrell was late to set, unaware that Farrell was, in fact, present — albeit with face-altering makeup. “Colin walked on to set one day and I walked right passed him,” Wright revealed on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show.” “I was like, ‘OK, hey dude what’s happening, where’s Colin? Are we going to shoot?’ It was, it’s pretty remarkable.” 

Yet audiences shouldn’t expect too large a role. “I’m only in it for five or six scenes, so I can’t wait to see the film because it won’t be ruined by my presence,” Farrell joked. “Really, it’s a freebie to me. I’ll get a little bit uncomfortable for the f-ing nine minutes I have, and then the rest of it, I cannot wait to see how he [Reeves] brought this world to life.” 

Jeffery Wright Brings Gravitas to Commissioner Gordon

While Jeffrey Wright might not be a detective in real life (he was fooled by co-star Colin Farrell’s masterful Penguin disguise, after all), the “Westworld” alum no doubt will be the perfect Commissioner Gordon…so much so, that Wright has even waded deeper into the DC Comics waters. HBO Max announced that Wright was cast as Batman in original scripted podcast series, “Batman: The Audio Adventures.” 

Rosario Dawson co-stars as Catwoman, and John Leguizamo voices The Riddler. Per a press release, the series will drawn inspiration from the 1960s TV series and the critically-acclaimed “Batman: The Animated Series.” Dennis McNicholas will write and direct, with HBO Max producing in conjunction with Warner Bros. and DC.

Wright spoke of the similarities between the two Batman roles to Games Radar in August 2021. “They are [both] holding the scales, so to speak,” he said of Batman and Commissioner Gordon. “They’re definitely characters who are concerned about justice and justness. I think Gordon is much less reticent, he’s very much in the thick of things with ‘The Batman,’ so they’re different in that regard.”

A more grounded script is what inspired Wright to sign on to “The Batman” in the first place. 

“I think one of the aspects of the script that I was really stoked about was the Batmobile,” Wright said on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show” in August 2020.  “The way it was described, it was described as this kind of retro hyper Hemi-5 muscle car that was just the craziest, coolest thing that you’d ever seen. When I read that I said ‘a-ha, yes’ because what it was trying to achieve and what it does achieve, is to create an accessibility for our Gotham, a world that is tangible and grounded and a very familiar reality but at the same time it’s still fantastical, it’s still tweaked, it’s still arched but it’s accessible.”

Andy Serkis Puts His British Accent to Good Use as Alfred

Longtime Matt Reeves collaborator Andy Serkis was cast as Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Serkis revealed to LADbible in May 2020 that “The Batman” will be “darker than previous” Gotham City-based films, and its pathos will be rooted in the relationship between Batman (Robert Pattinson) and Alfred. 

“It’s very much about the emotional connection between Alfred and Bruce,” Serkis said.

As for stepping into the butler’s quarters once occupied by Sir Michael Caine, Michael Gough, and Jeremy Irons, Serkis stated, “It’s like playing these iconic roles in Shakespeare, you go back, you revisit them and you have to make it your own, and see what it is about he character that connects with you and your personal Venn diagram.”

“The Batman” Suffered COVID-19 Production Delays

“The Batman” shifted its release date multiple times, from June to October 2021, and now March 4, 2022 due to a series of production delays amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Director Matt Reeves revealed to Deadline in April 2020 that the question marks in the trailer were not a Riddler reference, but rather a geniune T.B.D. for the film. “We’re not officially editing right now. We’ve actually shot a quarter of the movie,” Reeves cited. “It happens any time you shoot anything. The unexpected — happy accidents and things you didn’t quite expect: That is the lightning in a bottle for something that is alive. I would say that the changes really have to do with ‘Oh, seeing the tone of this’ with these scenes we haven’t done which connect to that part of the storyline.”

Reeves added, “It feels like there might be an opportunity to explore some of that unexpected tone that we found. With these movies, you never have enough prep time, because they’re so complex and so enormous in so many ways. It also gives me a moment to think about the larger sequences that have yet to come up and how I want to realize those.” 

Reeves was adamant that the halt of the London-based production would not affect his screenplay. “It took me two years to work on that story, and it’s a very specific mystery noir that’s been really thought-out by me and my partners,” he noted. 

On April 14, 2020, “The Batman” dialect coach Andrew Jack died of COVID-19 complications. Reeves paid tribute on Twitter to the Hollywood “legend” who previously appeared onscreen as General Ematt of the Resistance in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi.”

Reeves opened up about losing Jack during the production pause to The Daily Beast. “It has been a really hard time, because one of our crew members out here actually got the virus and died,” Reeves reflected. “It’s been a very heartbreaking time. It’s one of those moments when you take stock of things, I think the way everyone is, because suddenly their lives are on hold, and they know people that are getting ill, and some people are getting very ill and dying. It’s very scary. It makes you really think about what matters.”

The writer-director continued, “Of course, there’s a part of me that’s frustrated that we were in the midst of this movie. But at the same time, I really think priorities are such that you’re like, hey, the one thing we don’t want to do is put anyone at risk. We want to make sure everyone is going to be as safe as they possibly can be. That’s why we shut down, and obviously, it was the right thing to do. That’s why everyone’s shut down.” 

U.K.-based productions resumed in May 2020 with new coronavirus guidelines and restrictions. Yet, “The Batman” stopped filming again in September 2020 after Pattinson tested positive for COVID-19. Ultimately, “The Batman” release date was pushed to March 4, 2022, with no more question marks…for now at least.

The Eerie Trailer Soundtrack Is a Nod to Nirvana’s Influence

Would Bruce Wayne really be a Nirvana fan? Matt Reeves sure seems to think so. The writer-director told Empire magazine that he listened to Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” while writing the first act of “The Batman.” A cover of the song now sets the tone for the film in the first trailer, and inherently shaped Batman as a “darker” figure.

“There’s another version [of Bruce] who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse,” Reeves explained. “So I started making this connection to Gus Van Sant’s ‘Last Days,’ and the idea of this fictionalized version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor. He’s not really a socialite at all. He’s building all these little contraptions and things, just with Alfred.” 

The casting of Robert Pattinson also felt Nirvana-ish to Reeves: “He’s got that Kurt Cobain thing, where he looks like a rock star, but you also feel like he could be a recluse,” Reeves mused of the “Good Time” actor. 

As for the film’s score, “The Batman” theme was revealed by composer Michael Giacchino in January 2022. Per Variety, the orchestration “hints at other iconic Batman themes and is a powerful, emotional and moody cue that starts softly before soaring to a grand majestic finale.” 

Robert Pattinson Is in “Almost Every Scene” of the Character Study Superhero Epic

Robert Pattinson transformed into a “very Hitchcockian” leading man for “The Batman,” as writer-director Matt Reeves told Entertainment Weekly. Pattinson, who noted the film was “one of the hardest things” he’s ever done, leads the epic with a “kind of point of view where you are wedded to his experience,” Reeves described. 

Pattinson added, “When I look at photos of myself from the makeup test on the last day, I don’t even look human by the end of it. I look like I’m a piece of bubble gum that’s been stuck on the streets for like three years and has just been scraped off and put in a Batman outfit.” 

There Is No Rated R Version

Don’t hold your breathe for a #ReevesCut. Writer-director Matt Reeves confirmed there is no “special cut” for an R-rated version of “The Batman,” like fellow DC saga “Zack Synder’s Justice League.” 

“In my mind, the movie was always going to be a gritty, edgy, noir, thrilling spectacle that was PG-13,” Reeves told Den of Geek. “That was always what it was, but I always knew that we’d be pushing the limits of what that could be, and so we didn’t really have to cut anything. The promotional materials that you’re seeing, they’re fully reflective of the tone of the movie.” 

Reeves added, “There isn’t some special cut of this movie where it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, here’s the R rating that you’ve been desperately wanting,’” Reeves said. “I didn’t have to suddenly start drastically cutting the movie or anything like that.” 

“The Batman” Has Already Broken Records

…for runtime. Yes, the highly-anticipated film requires almost three hours in theaters, with the runtime landing at two hours and 55 minutes, including credits. As The Hollywood Reporter noted, “The Batman” boasts the longest running time of any solo Batman film, and the second longest for a theatrical superhero movie behind “Avengers: Endgame,” which ran three hours and one minute. For non-theatrical releases, the title of longest superhero movie goes to “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” with four hours and two minutes. 

“The Batman” is also rated PG-13 after much debate over an R rating for the grisly subject matter. 

Matt Reeves Already Has an HBO Max “Batman” Spinoff Series in the Works

Why limit “The Batman” to just Bruce Wayne? Director Matt Reeves announced in July 2020 that Warner Bros.-owned streaming platform HBO Max already greenlit a spinoff series based in the same world as Reeves’ unreleased film. “The Batman” producer Dylan Clark and Warner Bros. Television are additionally involved. 

“Boardwalk Empire” creator Terence Winter was slated as showrunner, but later replaced by “Invasion” writer Joe Barton, as reported by Variety.

Per a press statement, the series will expand on the aforementioned themes of corruption in a modern Gotham City. The tentatively-titled project “Gotham City P.D.” will mark Reeves’ first television series under his overall deal with the Warner Bros. Television Group. Reeves’ 6th & Idaho production company will produce the series, which will be executive produced by Daniel Pipski and Adam Kassan. Rafi Crohn will serve as co-executive producer.

“This is an amazing opportunity, not only to expand the vision of the world I am creating in the film, but to explore it in the kind of depth and detail that only a long-form format can afford, is an absolute dream,” Reeves said. 

During DC Fandome via Deadline, Reeves confirmed the HBO Max spinoff will be a prequel to “The Batman” film, and follow a corrupt police officer. “The story is actually a battle for his soul,” Reeves teased of the story that will “go back many years” to unravel what caused Gotham City’s downfall.

Additionally, Variety and Deadline reported that a “‘Scarface’-like” Penguin spin-off starring Colin Farrell is in early development at HBO. 

Reeves also told Entertainment Weekly that he wants to “create a Batverse” with “The Batman” franchise. “You don’t do a story and go, ‘This is Chapter 1’ because you might not get to do Chapter 2. So, the story had to stand on its own,” Reeves said of the film. “But the thing about it is that the Bat world is so rich with character that as you’re starting to come to an end, you can already start thinking about the next thing. Because the idea, of course, is that Gotham’s story never ends.” 

So, expect to see more of Reeves’ version of Bats in the near future.