The upcoming Matt Reeves directorial reboot venture titled The Batman is all set to hit the theatres in March. The anticipation grew even more as the film made history by becoming the longest Batman film ever made. Without wanting to dampen the suspense, The Batman’s star, Robert Pattinson, explains why his Bruce Wayne becomes the Dark Knight.
According to Screenrant, the Twilight actor spoke with Total Film about his first superhero role and what he thought of the character in a recent conversation. Speaking about why his character Bruce Wayne eventually becomes Batman, the actor addressed his character’s mental anguish and how tragedy fuels him. In the end, Pattinson believes his Bruce Wayne resorts to vigilantism as “self-therapy.” He also stated, while describing his character’s perspective, “He’s got this enormous trauma inside him, and he’s built this intricate, psychological mechanism to handle it. It’s like a really, really, really bad self-therapy that has ended up with him being Batman at the end, as self-help.”
This will be Batman’s third incarnation since Christopher Nolan recreated the character in Batman Begins in 2005, followed by The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. All three starred Christian Bale, who left the role after the trilogy was concluded in 2012, and Argo director Ben Affleck was subsequently hired in the role for 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, resuming his role in the 2017 sequel Justice League. Affleck was all set to direct and star in The Batman, but he decided to drop out for a variety of reasons, with Pattinson joining in May 2019.
Several people were shocked by Pattinson’s casting; however, he has proven to be a highly versatile actor, and casting against type can frequently work extremely well. If The Batman is a success, it is reasonable to expect a new Batman trilogy.
Pattinson is said to be the seventh actor to step into the role on the big screen. Taking on a franchise as prominent and iconic as the Batman franchise is no easy task, and how the character is construed by a filmmaker and lead actor is extremely crucial to the franchise’s success. This will be the third Batman reboot in 17 years, and Reeves’ take on Bruce Wayne/Batman is expected to focus less on the origin backdrop and more on the tragic antihero at the heart of the story, with a darker and more violent storyline. Pattinson’s comments seemed to support this, hinting at a tortured version of the DC hero.
