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Two weeks ago, a black jacket-clad Robert Pattinson faced flashbulbs and reporters at the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his period drama, The Lighthouse. When one guest approached him at the reception
and said, "I heard you were the new Batman," he offered only a sly smile and stayed mum.
In reality, Pattinson was not the Caped Crusader... just yet. Hours after his Cannes duties in designer duds, he would be on a plane to Los Angeles to face perhaps the biggest test of his acting career:
putting on a Batsuit for director Matt Reeves, who is casting The Batman.
That test was officially passed Friday, when Warner Bros. announced that Pattinson had won the role. The decision was the culmination of an intense process that insiders describe as surprisingly quick. As
opposed to most superhero casting efforts, which often include far-and-wide searches and dozens of screen tests for the likes of Superman or more recently, Spider-Man, the Batman process was notably
smooth.
"It was quick," says one Warners insider. "Quicker than normal."
Reeves, who was hired to write and direct a new Batman movie in February 2017, was envisioning actors while penning the script, according to sources familiar with the filmmaker's thinking. It helped that
this new Batman needed to conform to a defined age
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bracket. He is written as around 30 years old, and the story is neither another rehashing of his origin nor the tale of a seasoned crimefighter ruling
Gotham City. He is Bruce Wayne still trying to find his footing on his way to becoming the genius detective.
This, of course, eliminated Ben Affleck, as THR first reported back in July 2017. (Affleck and Warner Bros. denied the recasting at the time because the actor, who had played the role in Batman v Superman
and Justice League, was to have headlined his own stand-alone movie that was sidelined when the studio began rethinking its superhero strategy.)
Reeves is said to have considered Pattinson, 33, early on in the process, says one source, even though no outreach was made. Reeves didn't even know if the actor wanted the part. Since Pattinson shot to
fame as a heartthrob vampire in the Twilight films, he has built a solid résumé in smaller, well-reviewed independent films like Good Time and Maps to the Stars. He has assiduously avoided big studio
franchise films.
But that fact actually made him more attractive to Reeves and the executive team at Warner Bros. Specifically, Pattinson has not yet appeared in a Marvel Studios movie, and name-brand actors not working
for the DC Comics rival are becoming few and far between. While there are no contract provisions prohibiting Marvel actors from appearing in DC/Warner Bros. movies and vice versa, execs believe that
cross-pollination dilutes both brands and can cause confusion
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