David Ayer’s Joker in Suicide Squad may have been very unsubtle in outlining his state of mind by having the word literally tattooed on his face, but the Clown Prince of Crime’s archenemy is just as damaged, something that might be causing the Warner Bros. boardroom some discomfort if the latest rumors swirling around The Batman are any indication.
There’s a feeling among fans that it’s much more difficult for an actor to make a memorable Bruce Wayne than a great Batman, and if insider Grace Randolph is to be believed, then Robert Pattinson will certainly be pulling out all of the stops to convince audiences that childhood trauma has driven his entire existence to the point where he decides it’s a great idea to throw on an armored costume and start taking the law into his own hands, as you can see below.
#DC tea:
WB concerned about #TheBatman not just for being dark but Bruce has mental health issues.
I personally like this, but does show Geoff Johns was still pushing scripts to follow his comics (Batman Earth One, which was excellent)
Also follows some of Scott Snyder’s work. pic.twitter.com/MEqLwNjxr3
— Grace Randolph (@GraceRandolph) June 6, 2021
The argument over who made the best live-action Batman typically boils down to a face off between Michael Keaton and Christian Bale, but it can’t be denied that Tim Burton’s Caped Crusader did a much more believable job as a rich dude that flaunts the playboy lifestyle to try and mask the fact that he might just be more than a little deranged.
It’s not as if the iconic superhero is supposed to be light and fluffy, either, and if Matt Reeves is planning on going all-in on the darkness, then it would make sense for Pattinson’s protagonist to be more overtly and obviously troubled than any of his predecessors. Mental health is a sensitive onscreen subject to handle, though, especially within the context of a mega budget comic book blockbuster, so let’s hope The Batman can pull it off.
