Robert Pattinson wasn’t officially confirmed to be playing the title character in The Batman until the end of May, but rumors had nonetheless been linking the actor the role for months beforehand. These days, it’s become so much harder for high-profile casting announcements to be kept under wraps without being leaked on the internet, and it turns out that Pattinson thought the news of his impending reveal as the Dark Knight may have potentially blown his chances of securing the coveted gig.
A few months ago, the internet was ablaze with speculation that the 33 year-old was set to replace Ben Affleck in the Matt Reeves-directed reboot, and in his first major interview since the casting was confirmed, Pattinson admits that he wasn’t too happy with the information being leaked, especially as he hadn’t even auditioned yet.
“When that thing leaked, I was f**king furious. Everyone was so upset. Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing. It was terrifying. I was like, Oh f**k! Does that screw me because they are so intent on secrecy?”
After breaking out in a big way thanks to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and the Twilight franchise, Pattinson made a conscious effort to stay away from big budget filmmaking in order to establish a reputation as a serious dramatic actor. So, it comes as something of a surprise to find out that he was actively chasing the chance to audition for Batman, going so far as to constantly hound Matt Reeves for a shot at playing the iconic superhero.
“I’d had Batman in my mind for a while. It’s such an absurd thing to say. I sort of had an idea to do it, and I’d been prodding Matt. He didn’t accept any prods. I kept asking to meet him.”
As is the case when any major comic book character is recast for the umpteenth time, a vocal section of fans were very much against the idea of Pattinson being cast as the Caped Crusader, although most of this online criticism was based entirely on the fact that he’d starred in Twilight. With a series of critically-acclaimed performances under his belt though, he’s most definitely earned the benefit of the doubt, and with The Batman finally set to start shooting in a matter of months, it won’t be long until we get our first look at Pattinson in the Batsuit.