In today’s Hollywood landscape, it seems like just about every actor is snatching up a comic book role. And considering the box office domination of the genre – including Avengers: Endgame recently becoming the highest-grossing movie in cinematic history – it’s no wonder why. So how about a certain young talent, Timothée Chalamet? It seems like only a matter of time before he joins in on the fun.
Timothée Chalamet has already collaborated with the soon-to-be Batman, Robert Pattinson, for the upcoming Netflix original, The King. Now he’s putting his name in the ring for the Dark Knight’s sidekick, Robin. Check out what he said:
I grew up – you can ask my mom, who’s here – people in the elevator would ask me when I was five-years-old, ‘What’s your name?’ and I would say Robin. Actually every director steered away from putting Robin [in a movie] -- well, actually Zack Snyder had a flashback of Robin, but it was like three seconds and I don't even know if it was Robin by name but they've steered away from it because it’s hard to do dramatically or something, and I … I’m not averse to those universes.
How adorable! While at The King premiere, Timothée Chalamet shared a sweet story about how as a kid he’d go by Robin. It’s a cute mark of a budding actor who was trying out taking roles at a young age. No wonder he’s already been nominated for an Oscar at 23 years old!
The actor points out how recent Batman iterations have moved away from Robin portrayals. Like when Christopher Nolan waited until the very end of his Dark Knight trilogy to reveal Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s version of Robin, and even that was just a middle name. Zack Snyder also only had a brief wink to the character alongside Ben Affleck’s version.
Yes, maybe Robin’s reputation being rooted in “Holy Batman!” phrases have had filmmakers running in the other direction of adapting the character. But Timothée Chalamet is actually a great choice for Dick Grayson. Not to mention his already-formed connection with Robert Pattinson in The King! Here’s Chalamet speaking to Variety about Pattinson’s Batman and his interest in Robin:
Just a couple of days ago, it was reported that Warner Bros’ developing Nightwing movie is being delayed due to Matt Reeves’ The Batman plans. The writer/director is apparently laying the groundwork for a “fully realized bat-world,” which may include Dick Grayson. So the Nightwing movie is slowing its roll so the filmmaker can line his bat plans in a row.
This could be good news. It means Warner Bros could be setting up an arc where Nightwing and Robert Pattinson’s Batman collide. Fans have been waiting for a Nightwing portrayal for a while, and it would be a nice change of pace from the classic Robin take on Dick Grayson.
For now, Timothée Chalamet has a ton of projects on the way. He’ll star in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women over the holidays, as well as play central roles in Denis Villenueve’s Dune and Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch in 2020. He and Pattinson star in The King, coming to Netflix on November 1.
