The Batman is headed our way in March 2022, after a pandemic-induced delay pushed it from a thematic October 2021 release slot. So far, we've had a trailer from DC FanDome and plenty of images and videos from filming in Liverpool, UK, and Chicago.
Now, Robert Pattinson has shed some light on his approach to picking up the cape and cowl. Speaking to Vanity Fair France, and reported by Batman News, Pattinson talked about the challenges that come with playing Batman (the excerpts from the interview have been translated from French).
"To start, The Batman, I’m using things at the moment that seem fragile compared to the importance of the project," he said. "Conversations I’ve had with close friends, embryos of dreams. This is the secret and sensitive part of the actor facing the heaviness of the project."
That all sounds very mysterious, and Pattinson further explained: “On The Batman, on Tenet, a gigantic team of technicians surrounds you and when you say, 'Let’s go Robert… Action!' you have to forget this mass of people and play in front of your own thoughts, your own demons.
"Yes, I have an actor’s excitement to face the tension of the set, the inordinate expectation of all these people and to transform it into a dialogue between me and myself. It’s an exciting and horrible feeling to be that 'little shit' who risks planting all the heavy artillery, all that war infrastructure, because she wasn’t able to go and get it… I think about that, a few days before a shoot.
In terms of developing the character of Batman, Pattinson’s comments were very intriguing. “I look first at the character and what I have to do with it, how I’m going to have to invent nuances in this shell, making it more complex, more complex all the time. Batman is a role in which I have to learn how to play ambiguity better. It’s out of the question to interpret a character of a single colour. It’s beautiful, people who seem to live in two states at the same time.”
Somewhat strangely, Pattinson added: “And then, imagine: you love to cook and after years you succeed in obtaining the perfect dish, the healthiest, the most balanced, the tastiest, the most subtle; would you honestly eat it at every meal? No! What would you secretly dream about? To make you a nice fat cheeseburger, ah ah ah ah.”
Pattinson’s comments on “ambiguity” are definitely exciting, considering one of the defining characteristics of Batman is his ability to balance the playboy Bruce Wayne persona with the nocturnal crime-fighting vigilante.
We’ll have to wait until 2022 to see Battinson in action, but until then, check out our guide on how to watch the DC movies in order so you can get caught up with a movie marathon.
