Robert Pattinson is no stranger to the world of effects-heavy big budget blockbusters, having made his first feature film appearance in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire before going on to star in The Twilight Saga. He may have actively avoided the studio system for close to a decade after his run as sparkly vampire Edward Cullen came to an end, but he’s recently dived back in.
As well as taking second billing in Christopher Nolan’s $200 million time-bending action thriller Tenet, Pattinson has been working on The Batman for close to a year now, with production initially kicking off in January before being shut down due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Filming was halted once again when the leading man himself got COVID-19, but shooting continues at pace almost twelve months after director Matt Reeves first called action.
There were reports making the rounds from hugely unreliable sources a while back that Pattinson getting sick was a hoax orchestrated to cover up the fact that the 34 year-old was struggling with the pressures of playing Batman, and a new rumor once again claims that he’s not having the easiest time on set, although Johnny Depp fans beware, as the source of this information is British tabloid The Sun.
“Filming has been a grueling process, especially for Robert, as Matt is such a perfectionist. He’ll insist on doing scenes over and over again and get bogged down in the tiny detail. Sometimes it’s like he doesn’t know when to stop. Matt has done blockbusters before, but this is another level. Batman is arguably the most popular superhero of all and by the time the film is released it will be the Dark Knight’s first solo movie in ten years.”
“Warner Bros can’t afford for the fanbase to be disappointed and have thrown £90 million at the film. No one is denying that this is a high stakes production and that Matt is feeling the pressure to get it right. But Robert has had a tough time on these franchise movies before. He hated Twilight by the time it wrapped, and the last thing anyone wants is for him to become jaded.”
As one of the biggest icons in popular culture, suiting up as Batman is no easy task, as George Clooney will happily tell you. And having already been delayed a couple of times, there’s still a while to go until the latest reboot for the Dark Knight hits theaters in March 2022. Based on the footage we’ve seen so far, though, it looks as if Reeves and Pattinson could have something pretty special in store when The Batman finally arrives, regardless of whether or not the star is feeling the pressure.
