When Robert Pattinson was cast to play the Caped Crusader in Matt Reeves' The Batman, the news was met with mixed responses. Those who have seen his works after starring in The Twilight Saga were enthusiastic as they know that the actor has a great range of talent while there are some who only know him through his role in The Twilight Saga which is why they responded with a backlash. But why did Reeves decide to cast Pattinson in the role?
In an interview with Esquire, Reeves discussed how he ended up deciding to cast Pattinson in his iteration of the Caped Crusader and, as many suspected, it has something to do with his independent film roles post-Twilight Saga.
"Of course, the idea [to fit with the Year One story] was to make him a younger actor,” the director said. “And in the process of writing the movie, I watched [the fantastic 2017 Safdie brothers film] Good Time, and I thought, ‘Okay, he’s got an inner kind of rage that connects with this character and a dangerousness, and I can feel this desperation.’ And I became dead-set on it being Rob. And I had no idea if Rob had any interest! Because, of course, he had done all of these indie movies after he established himself in Twilight."
Fortunately, Pattinson is also a huge fan of Batman and he was interested to play the role in Reeves' film. After he got cast, it was received with a backlash from some fans who were dubious of his capability to play the role. "There has been no actor, when his announcement that he was going to be playing Batman in one of the feature films was announced, that has not received a backlash," Reeves said. "The people who were excited, I knew it was because they knew Rob’s work post-Twilight. The people who weren’t excited, I knew it was because they didn’t know Rob’s work post-Twilight."
Based on the trailers that they've shown so far, it looks like Pattinson is going to kill it with the role and it certainly aligns with Reeves' vision for the film. There's no doubt that his take on the character will be very different. While there are fans who might still be skeptical about his casting right now, they might change their minds once they see the film in just over a month and find out why Reeves thought that Pattinson is the best for the role.
Also Read: The Batman: Robert Pattinson Discusses His Take on the Hero's Infamous No-Kill Rule
The Batman is set to be released in theaters on March 4.
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