Once it was revealed May that Robert Pattinson was in talks to play Batman, a role he officially scored at the end of that month, it wasn’t long before fans came up with some nicknames for the actor who’ll be breathing life into this new iteration of Gotham City’s shadowy protector: like RBatz and Battinson. But Pattinson himself doesn’t really enjoy all these new monikers, because when asked which of the two he prefers, he responded:
I don't know ... I'm trying to avoid nicknames.
To be fair, it’s not like Robert Pattinson is the first Batman actor to be given a Bat-themed nickname. When Ben Affleck was cast as the popular superhero, he was instantly christened “Batfleck.” Plus, Batman himself has received his fair share of nicknames, including The Dark Knight, The Caped Crusader and The World’s Greatest Detective.
Alas, if you find yourself chatting with Robert Pattinson, it’d probably be wise not to call him either RBatz or Battinson. He may have grinned when ET’s Ash Crossan broached the subject, and I doubt he’d get outright angry if you did call him either nickname, but it’s possible he’d get uncomfortable. Not that that will stop fans from using those amongst each other, of course. That’s one door that can’t be closed.
This is just one of the ways Robert Pattinson has opened up about his Batman casting four months after the news broke. He also recently talked about finding the hate towards him getting the role to be “less vitriolic” than he was expecting, his experience trying on the Batsuit for the first time and how he asked Dark Knight trilogy director Christoper Nolan, who he recently worked with on Tenet, for advice on moving around in the Batsuit.
While The Batman is a little under two years away from being released, the script is already complete and it’s expected to begin filming at the beginning of next year. So perhaps around then is when we’ll see what Battinson actually looks like, i.e. the actor in the cape and cowl, ideally through an official photo being released rather than leaked set photos.
As for what we can expect from The Batman, while no specific plot details have been officially been revealed yet, writer/director Matt Reeves has said it will an original, noir-driven story that highlights Bruce Wayne’s detective skills. That’s an element of the character that’s barely been touched upon in previous movies, so that should be a good way for this particular feature to distinguish itself from its predecessors.
We also haven’t officially learned yet what other characters will appear in The Batman yet, but it’s been rumored that it will be packed with villains, including Penguin and Catwoman. The most recent casting rumor to emerge is that BlacKkKlansman star John David Washington, who appears in Tenet alongside Robert Pattinson, is possibly being looked at to play Harvey Dent, though it’s unclear if he’s Two-Face at this point or not.
The Batman hits theaters on June 25, 2021, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on how it’s progressing. For now, you can keep track of what over DC movies are in development with our handy guide.
