The news of Robert Pattinson becoming the next actor to play Batman has been making waves in the comic book community for months now. Recently, successful filmmaker and celebrated aficionado of all things comic book-related, Kevin Smith waded into the casting choice on his Fatman Beyond podcast. In response to a comment by his co-host Marc Bernardin about meeting Pattinson, Smith affirmed his support for the teen heartthrob turned indie-darling, saying:
“I like him as an actor and look forward to this movie The Lighthouse in a big and bad way,” Smith said on the podcast. “I think he’s a good choice. I know he doesn’t look the part, I guess traditionally speaking because he seems like a lanky kid.”
While Pattinson’s lack of muscle was a big reason for some Batman fans being disappointed by his casting, an even bigger reservation on the part of many was because he’s most well-known for heading the famously mushy Twilight franchise where he played Edward Cullen, a sparkling vampire who falls in love with a mortal.
To transition from playing that lovesick vampire Romeo to the biggest badass in comic-dom is a stretch for many fans. But Smith stated that even being in Twilight was good practice for Pattinson for playing the Caped Crusader:
“When you’re [Batman] not in suit, you’ve got to f—ing be like ‘I’m tortured’ and he did that in f—ing Twilight for decades and shit. I’m sure he’ll be able to pull this off in his sleep,”
While Smith’s point about both Edward Cullen from Twilight and Batman having the brooding, tortured personality aspect in common is certainly valid, there was a big difference in their motivations. The Dark Knight was tortured by the death of his parents and his need to eradicate evil from Gotham. Edward, meanwhile, was tortured because the teenage girl Bella that the 100-year old vampire was in love with was also someone whose blood he wanted to drink. And then Edward thought Bella was hooking up with a werewolf and became more tortured still. What we’re saying is, the world of Twilight was a whole other ballpark from the world of Batman.
But Pattinson’s recent roles in smaller indie projects have established his acting credentials and displayed an impressive range. There’s also the fact that Christopher Nolan, who’s responsible for making the best Batman films yet starring Christian Bale, has cast Pattinson for his next project Tenet. Clearly, all signs point to the fact that being a comic-worthy Batman is something Pattinson is more than capable of pulling off. Or will be, as soon as he starts hitting the gym.
