The Batman is bringing yet another onscreen interpretation of the Caped Crusader, this time with star Robert Pattinson, who manifests as the fifth distinct live-action version to operate over the past decade. Indeed, the former Twilight star follows in the recent footsteps of film headliners Christian Bale (The Dark Knight Rises) and Ben Affleck (Justice League), and television actors David Mazouz (Fox’s Gotham) and Iain Glen (HBO Max’s Titans). However, it seems that the legacy of George Clooney from Batman & Robin played a part in Pattinson’s participation, thanks to a screen test, in which he had to don that costume—yes, the one with the nipples.
It appears that the preliminary screen test for Pattinson to procure the starring role of director Matt Reeves’s The Batman involved putting on a costume from one of the DC Comics hero’s previous film franchises. In this case, he wore Clooney’s Batsuit from recently passed director Joel Schumacher’s infamously campy, widely derided 1997 fourth film, Batman & Robin, which cemented a total tonal detour from the initial outing, director Tim Burton’s Michael Keaton-starring 1989 Batman movie. As the imminently debuting star reveals to Japanese online publication Eiga (translated via Reddit), the Clooney suit’s stylistic pizazz covered a horrendously impractical nature.
“I think (the screen test) was George Clooney, but I wore the original (past) one,” recalls Pattinson of his apprehension over the temporary sartorial compromise. “It looks cool, but it feels like a nightmare. I can’t move. I was sweating all the time, and I was scared that I couldn’t do anything with this (laughs). My suit is not only very cool, but it’s also incredibly well designed. Even if I play a fight scene with a lot of movement, I can move anyway. In addition, I also came up with some ideas that I would like you to do this. “
Pattinson’s claim contradicts one made by director Reeves to IGN this past October, in which he said “Rob was literally wearing Val Kilmer’s Batsuit.” However, potential confusion aside, the Batman & Robin version remains the most notorious Batsuit yet, notably due to its over-emphasis on elaborate fake musculature, and, of course, a particular attribute on the chest that’s earned the derisive nickname, “Bat-nipples.”
Regardless, the legacy costume screen test practice is one that, as growing evidence suggests, has become a tradition over at Warner Bros. studio. Indeed, alumni from the annals of Batman movies, Christian Bale and Cillian Murphy, know all too well what it’s like to screen test in old Batman outfits, both of whom put on the also-stylistically distinguished Bat-suit from another Schumacher-directed outing, 1995’s Batman Forever, which was famously worn by Val Kilmer in the film, which was the third in the series, and the first to not feature Keaton as the star. In the cases of Bale and Murphy, they were competing for the headlining role in what would become director Christopher Nolan’s trilogy-launching 2005 film, Batman Begins. Of course, Bale nailed the test, and Murphy missed out, although did manage to get himself cast as villain Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow.
Interestingly, Pattinson’s purportedly nightmarish ordeal in a Schumacher-era Bat-suit yielded the incidental benefit of fully appreciating the physically liberating nature of the one he finally got to wear onscreen in The Batman. With this telling of the often-told tale of Gothic vigilantism set during the caped and cowled hero’s early years (the Year Two era, specifically), this version of the costume—while unmistakably Batman’s style—showcases an unprecedented ad hoc nature, appearing to have been thrown together by the evolving needs of Bruce Wayne’s nocturnal exploits as they occurred, rather than a singularly envisioned outfit. It’s certainly the most ergonomic version of the Batman costume yet—notwithstanding Adam West’s spandex costume from the 1960s Batman TV series—due to the array of pouches he would need to hold his Batarangs and other gadgets. Moreover, he can actually move his head in a natural way, mitigating a problem that plagued big screen Batmen going back to Keaton’s cool-looking, but awkwardly immobile cowl.
“The difference from the conventional Batsuits is that you can see the feeling of use,” continues Pattinson. “You can see that they are wearing and fighting every night. It is a very practical suit with bullet holes and scratches here and there. I thought this was a very interesting idea because it was a bit tattered overall. “This time Bruce is kind of like a soldier,” he said, giving a hint about this work. “In this work, he is Bruce. I don’t really know who I am as. As if that part was missing. (Reading the script) every night, every night, I’m acting as a Batman anyway. Every night, like a beast. Wandering around the city is not an ordinary behavior (laughs), isn’t it? “
With the freedom of movement (and the ability to use the bathroom in a functional manner), Pattinson was able to concentrate on channeling the ethos that makes tortured billionaire Bruce Wayne clobber criminals at night in Gotham City as Batman. It’s a task for which he’s found a distinct knack, despite arriving in the shadow of several predecessors. Of course, he’ll have the benefit of an impressive cast, which, besides Andy Serkis as butler/de facto father Alfred Pennyworth and Jeffrey Wright as Gotham PD ally James Gordon, includes antagonistic foils (some more antagonistic than others) such as Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman, Paul Dano’s Riddler and Colin Farrell’s Penguin.
“I had a very different impression,” he says. “I felt a deep sorrow that was not as heroic as the Batman that had been drawn so far, with a greater sense of loss there. [There are] many tragedies in Bruce Wayne’s story. But in this work, it’s a tragic character in many ways, and I think he really has to find himself. “
The Batman makes its moody descent to theaters everywhere on March 4.
