After years of being best known as Edward Cullen in the Twilight film series, Robert Pattinson is now boosting his Hollywood profile playing one of pop culture’s most famous superheroes. We’ll see the actor’s take on Bruce Wayne when Matt Reeves’ The Batman arrives next year, with Pattinson being the seventh actor to play Gotham City’s Dark Knight in a live-action feature film. While it stands to reason that Warner Bros and DC would be interested in making a sequel to The Batman based on the character’s popularity alone, Pattinson having just signed a new deal with WB could indicate that The Batman 2 is indeed on the way.
Robert Pattinson has signed a first-look production deal with Warner Bros that encompasses not just the main Warner film division, but also New Line Cinema, Warner Bros Television and HBO Max. This deal also marks Pattinson jumping into the producing game, and here’s what he had to say about this new professional arrangement in an official statement (via Deadline):
Warner Bros Pictures and HBO have always been synonymous with groundbreaking filmmaking. I’m thrilled to be working with them to discover the most exciting new voices in film and television and help bring their visions to life. I’ve loved working with the studio over the years and have so much respect for their dedication, their willingness to take chances and their desire to push the envelope creatively.
Just so it’s perfectly clear, this deal Robert Pattinson’s signed with Warner Bros will encompass plenty of projects beyond Batman, ranging from other movies to something like an HBO Max prestige series, and whether he performs in front of the cameras or strictly contributes behind the scenes. That being said, the fact that Pattinson and WB are more closely tied together now certainly bodes well for the actor’s future as Batman. Again, the chances of The Batman being a one-and-done outing for Pattinson’s version of the superhero were already pretty slim, but now that he’s set up this special arrangement with WB, it’s even more likely that he’ll be back for another round as the Caped Crusader.
The Batman was originally intended to be a vehicle for Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne, and the story would have revolved around the hero being targeted by Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke. However, following Matt Reeves taking over writing and directorial duties, and Affleck departing the project, The Batman was reimagined as a non-DCEU story chronicling Robert Pattinson’s Bruce in his second year of fighting crime in Gotham City. The movie will follow Batman tracking down a serial killer known as The Riddler (Paul Dano), and other notable characters popping up include James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright), Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin (Colin Farrell), Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis) and Carmine Falcone (John Turturro).
So when will we learn if The Batman 2 is actually happening? That’s hard to say; maybe Warner Bros is confident enough that The Batman will be a smash hit that the sequel announcement will arrive later this year, or maybe the studio will wait until after The Batman’s release to let audiences know. Either way, there are already plans in motion to flesh out this particular DC franchise on HBO Max. A spinoff series is in development that will focus on the Gotham City Police Department during Batman’s first year of existence. Robert Pattinson’s first-look deal could surely pave the way for him to at cameo as Batman in this GCPD series, but as things stand now, there’s been no word about him appearing in this project.
The Batman casts its shadow in theaters on March 4, 2022, and as soon as any significant news concerning The Batman 2 is announced, we’ll let you know. In the meantime, stay locked on CinemaBlend for more updates on upcoming DC movies.
