Well, despite news late last week that both Robert Pattinson and X-Men star Nicholas Hoult were in the running for the Batman/Bruce Wayne role in the Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman, it seems that – as we all expected – Robert Pattison has officially claimed the role as his own.
The news came just as the weekend began: “Pattinson has been considered a frontrunner because the filmmaker liked him, but the studio was torn between him and Nicholas Hoult, and wanted both of the actors on tape because this is such a big decision on a cornerstone Warner Bros DC franchise. Those meetings happened yesterday, I’m told, and the decision was made. Hoult, who starred in Tolkien and is about to reprise in the latest X-Men: First Class film Dark Phoenix, was impressive, but Pattinson will be the guy and negotiations will get underway any moment.”
And it’s also been confirmed that the movie will the first of a trilogy and will see Pattinson as a Batman in his 30s – his ‘formative years’.
Now there’s been a lot of discussion – some friendly, some not (well, it IS the internet, after all) – over the next bit:
“This film will in no way carry on the work that Ben Affleck did as the older Batman in Batman Vs. Superman and Justice League.”
Personally I still believe that this movie – like Wonder Woman 1984, Birds of Prey, Suicide Squad, Shazam 2 and Aquaman 2 – will still be part of the universe that has seen Affleck in the role.
The use of the words ‘no way carry on’ simply implies that this will not carry on from the stories already told in the movies, but rather will go back to that line from Batman V Superman about ’20 years in Gotham’ and will see the younger version of Batman who will someday become the leader of the Justice League.
The villain roster will see a full rogues gallery but will be fronted by Penguin – again, remember Alfred’s line about missing the days when their biggest concern was wind-up, exploding penguins?
An new write-up on the movie describes Batman as being “written as around 30 years old, and the story is neither another re-hashing of his origin nor the tale of a seasoned crimefighter ruling Gotham City. He is Bruce Wayne still trying to find his footing on his way to becoming the genius detective.”
That sounds like Affleck’s Batman to me.
In related news, Forbes are reporting as well as the villains we’ll see Alfred, Commissioner Gordon and – yes! – Robin – appearing too.
Again – remember when Commissioner Gordon commented on how it was good to see Batman ‘playing nice with others again’ in Justice League? Foreshadowing.
This is going to be something special and looks like it’s going to dip deep into the lore of Batman and until Warner Bros directly address the issue – which I expect they will – and say it’s not connected to the DCEU as stands, I’m taking it is.
Let me know your thoughts, folks.
The Batman currently has a release date of June 25, 2021.
Source: Deadline
Awesome poster: SG Posters
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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