We’ve never really had more than one live-action Batman at any given time, something that’s set to change drastically next year when Robert Pattinson makes his debut as the Dark Knight in Matt Reeves’ reboot, which hits theaters in March, eight months before Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton come face-to-face in The Flash.
Pattinson has already got plenty of doubters to silence given that he’ll be under intense scrutiny for no other reason than he used to be ‘the Twilight guy’, and he couldn’t have found two worse Caped Crusaders to find himself up against and inevitably being compared to by the time 2022 is out.
Keaton regularly comes up against Christian Bale in a straight shootout when it comes to debating and naming the best big screen Batman of all-time, while Affleck also has plenty of fans and carries more audience goodwill into The Flash than ever before thanks to the success of Zack Snyder’s Justice League and subsequent calls to restore the SnyderVerse.
However, we’re hearing from our sources – the same ones who told us Affleck was returning in the Scarlet Speedster’s solo debut long before it was confirmed – that Pattinson reportedly isn’t happy about the competition, and as a result the odds, being stacked against him, especially when all signs point to yet another Batman being introduced in the not too distant future via Keaton’s presumed involvement in Batman Beyond as mentor to Terry McGinnis.
Of course, it’s hardly a deal-breaker seeing as Pattinson signed a lucrative first-look development deal with Warner Bros., New Line Cinema, HBO Max and Warner Bros. Television after The Flash had already started shooting, so at least there’s no danger of him throwing his toys out of the pram.
