It was announced earlier this week that Twilight star Robert Pattinson would take on the role of the Cape Crusader, whenever the next series of films begin. The English actor will take over from Ben Affleck, whos role as Bruce Wayne received pretty mixed reception. He was okay. But just okay. In fairness, he had a very difficult job taking over from the incredible Christian Bale who seamlessly transitioned between sleazy businessman and the hero we don’t deserve. At Ben’s age, he was never really going to be a long term option. We needed a younger option, someone who could both represent Batman’s early story as well as cope with the physical demands of the role.
In comes heartthrob of many a teen girl back in the day Robert Pattinson. He’ll be the youngest Batman we’ve ever had which could provide him with a sort of youthful exuberance, even a naivety that previous actors wouldn’t have offered. The other Batmans have sort of felt pretty battle weary and hardened by the time they’ve taken the step to become Batman. Perhaps, with Pattinson at the helm we might get a different angle. The death of his parents is obviously a major motivation for the emergence of The Batman throughout the characters history, but perhaps, in his youth this makes him reckless? Batman has felt untouchable, almost too perfect at times and maybe a younger, less long in the tooth actor could make him more relatable.
He’s also just a very good actor whose reputation has mainly been founded on his Twilight years. However, he has shown himself to be a competent, perhaps great actor in the past few years with roles in Independent and art house movies. Like the late Heath Ledger, his reputation has not done him any favours in terms of people’s reactions to the news that he would play Batman. Also like Heath Ledger, this could be his break and the chance to show mainstream cinema goers that he’s more than Edward Cullen.
Physically, he might have to do a bit of working out to adopt the superheros hulking frame but that shouldn’t really be a problem. He stands at 6’1 so his height is no issue either. His jet black hair and deep set eyes should suit our image of Batman and I can see him really inhibiting poor Bruce’s dark past.
The London born actor actually has a pretty busy schedule coming up with a collaboration with the Dark Knight trilogy director Christopher Nolan coming up in Tenet as well as The King alongside Timothee Chalamet and Joel Edgerton. Let’s hope that Pattinson can help the new Batman film/films be an improvement on the most recent efforts.