The Batman has Found Its Caped Crusader—Robert Pattinson

There you have it, folks. The man who became a star playing a teenage vampire in the Twilight series, Robert Pattinson, will be your next Batman. Variety‘s Justin Kroll reports that Pattison is close to closing a deal to star in Matt Reeves The Batman, playing Gotham’s dark knight in the hotly anticipated reboot. The film is slated to begin filming this summer. Reeves has been developing the project since he officially took over directing duties from Ben Affleck in 2017.

Pattinson is, in our mind, a great choice. He followed up his role as Edward Cullen, the undead teenage heartthrob in Twilight by making one interesting choice after another. He eschewed glamorous roles for darker ones, choosing to work with an incredible list of auteurs. He most recently teamed up with the great Clare Denis for High Life, and before that has worked with David Cronenberg in his wild Don DeLillo adaptation, Cosmopolis (2012), and the Safdie Brothers on their breathless drug caper Good Time (2017).

At 33, Pattinson would be the second-youngest actor to ever take on the role of Bruce Wayne. Christian Bale was 31 when he appeared in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins in 2005. He’ll also be working off a script that Reeves has been polishing for quite some time. Warner Bros. has given Reeves plenty of time to hone The Batman so that this reboot feels right. Ben Affleck played the caped crusader in Batman v. Superman and Justice League, but this will be the first stand-alone film for the iconic superhero since Nolan’s final film in his Dark Knight trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, in 2012. Reeves has previously promised his take will be more of a detective story than a straight up superhero flick.

Speaking of Nolan, Pattison is currently working with him, and John David Washington, on another Warner Bros. project. This is the top-secret “event movie” that Nolan is making, which is set to bow on July 17, 2020.

Pattinson is no stranger to mega-films and indies alike. With Reeves promised noir detective take on The Batman, he might have found the perfect blend of both.

Featured image: Robert Pattinson in ‘High Life.’ Courtesy A24/Photo: Martin Valentin Menke