Even though the movie is apparently not an origin story, there is a lot of character building being covered. With the long history of actors taking on the mantle of The Batman, how does Pattinson’s take stack up so far? What did the actor reveal about his interpretation of Batman’s no killing rule? And why is Batman’s eyeliner so important? Read on for more on these The Batman revelations below.
Dirty and slimy
Speaking to French entertainment magazine Premiere as part of The Batman promotion, Robert Pattinson describes his take on Bruce Wayne’s lifestyle at the time of the film’s setting:
In a later interview with MovieMaker, Pattinson continued about the theme of an unkempt Bruce Wayne shared with the film’s director, Matt Reeves:
— MovieMaker Magazine (@moviemakermag) January 24, 2022 There had been comments and reactions that Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne looks awkward at the least as a billionaire playboy. But based on this description, this version of Wayne has not created his more familiar trappings. It does, however, beg the question of why no one has suspected Bruce of being the Batman (as the film is set during the second year of his vigilante operations).
No killing
Aside from the physical attributes, one key characteristic that Robert Pattinson is consistent with the Batman persona is adopting his psychology. In the same Premiere magazine interview, Pattinson describes his approach to how Batman thinks and justifies his war on crime but maintains non-lethal tactics: The actor added, describing the catharsis Bruce Wayne experiences in beating up criminals: In the comics, Batman has generally followed a no killing rule. This self-imposed rule has been inconsistently portrayed in the live action films. Christian Bale’s version wantonly allowed Ra’s al-Ghul (Liam Neeson) to die, while Michael Keaton’s and Ben Affleck’s versions clearly killed criminals with their brutal methods.
Workout joke
One point that Pattinson wants to clarify is that, contrary to an off-hand remark he said, he actually did underwent the requisite workout to be the Caped Crusader. Fans took the actor to task when, in an interview with GQ, Pattinson implied that he was not working out for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman: This statement came as a response to the interview that Warner Bros. assigned a fitness trainer to help him get in shape. However, the fan backlash spread on the internet, particularly with how Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck underwent rigorous training during their own turns in the role. Even publications like Men’s Health took the actor’s comment seriously, speculating on the pros and cons of Pattinson’s apparent choice to not undergo the workout routines to bulk up. However, in the more recent interview with MovieMaker, Pattinson doubled back on his previous comments about working out for playing Batman. The actor instead confirmed he had put in the work to get shredded: Pattinson continued by reassuring fans that he was just jesting during the earlier interview about not training: Given the scenes revealed so far in The Batman teasers and trailers of Pattinson showing his physique, the actor did get more muscular and chiseled, although not as massive as Bale or Affleck.
Bat eyeliner?
Perhaps the most visually obvious difference that Pattinson’s version of Batman is how he is directly shown wearing eyeliner. In previous live action depictions of Batman, the actors wear dark eyeliner or makeup around the edges of the eyes, to give a continuous black look while sporting the cowl. However, the eyeliner is inexplicably gone the moment the cowl is removed. On the other hand, Pattinson in The Batman clearly shows the eyeliner still there, as he removed the cowl in his Batcave. In an interview with Esquire, Matt Reeves explains the reasoning for this: Pattinson’s casting as Bruce Wayne/The Batman initially brought about mixed reactions, particularly with fans who only know the actor’s role as Edward Cullen in the Twilight film franchise. The first trailer led to a more positive response, though there were still naysayers. With the new details thus revealed about the actor’s dedication and darker take on the role, will the perception change? Given the lengthy runtime of the film, there is certainly enough time to fully flesh out Pattinson’s characterization of the iconic superhero. The Batman stars Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell. Also starring Jayme Lawson, Barry Keoghan, and Alex Ferns. The Batman hits theaters worldwide on March 4, 2022.
