Robert Pattinson Was Terrified When The Cast Of 'The Batman' Leaked

Robert Pattinson is famous for his role as Edward Cullen in the "Twilight" movies. Since the franchise, the English actor has appeared in several big-budget and independent films. He is even ranked among some of the world's highest-paid actors.

Pattinson recently took on a more dark and less fictitious blood-sucking role. The actor famed Dark Knight's cape and cowl was just passed on to the actor by the previous Badman actor, Ben Affleck. His Bruce Wayne predecessors are Adam West, George Clooney, Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, and Val Kilmer.

Despite the DC Comics movie's trailer release shy of a month ago, Batman's cast identity as Pattinson was already public information. The news leaked as early as May, and the actor revealed that he was terrified and worried that DC Comics would cut him out of the role because of how secretive they were.

In an interview with Variety, Pattinson revealed that the role of Batman was on his mind long before Matt Reeves finished the script. He said immediately he heard that the director was working on the script, he started prodding for a meeting and eventually succeeded.

The "Twilight" actor revealed, "I'd had Batman in my mind for a while. It's such an absurd thing to say. I sort of had an idea to do it, and I'd been prodding Matt. He didn't accept any prods. I kept asking to meet him."

Not long after tying loose ends on the script, Reeves decided to meet with Pattinson in LA. However, things didn't go as they planned. In May, the director landed in Cannes and faced the onslaught of media outlets. Not long after, the possibility of Pattinson as the Dark Knight was made public before even auditioning.

The actor told Variety, "It was terrifying. I was like, 'Oh f***! Does that screw me because [Warner Bros. is] so intent on secrecy?'… The whole thing was a lot." He worried that the leak would stop him from getting into his own Batsuit.

Besides being terrified, Pattinson revealed that he was "furious" when the leak occurred and that everyone in his team was panicking. "When that thing leaked, I was f***ing furious," he said. "Everyone was so upset. Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing."

The cast leak of "The Batman" upset the "Twilight" actor so much that he immediately rushed online to check the damage. He also wanted to confirm if Warner Bros. had said anything about cutting him out of the DC superhero role due to the situation.

While he franticly searched, Pattinson was also increasingly aware of Christopher McQuarrie, "Mission Impossible – Fallout" director, sitting right beside him. He mentioned that he felt mortified that the director might have seen him googling himself before he realized it.

He recalled, "I was sitting next to Christopher McQuarrie. I'd never met him before. 'Oh, God! He'd seen me Googling myself for the past hour!'" He explained the situation to MacQuarrie to make things seem less awkward.

According to Variety, the director said, "'No worries. I'd probably be doing the same thing.'" Things thankfully didn't turn out as bad as Pattinson feared because he went on to appear on the official "The Batman" trailer with "Something in the Way" by Nirvana playing in the background.

Like the actor, Pattinson's fans went online to check if Warner Bros. made any statements removing the actor from the role. Not long after, they started picking the trailer apart for details of the incoming movie.

Pattinson revealed that he didn't expect such a mellow response from the public. "To be honest, it was less vitriolic than I was expecting," he said. The actor also admitted that he thought there would be a lot of backlash by the public due to Warner Bros. choice for the role of Batman.

In an interview with Empire magazine, director Reeves talked about his darker take on "The Batman" movie and what prompted it. He revealed that instead of making Bruce Wayne "the playboy version we've seen before, there's another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse."

He continued, "I started making this connection to Gus Van Sant's 'Last Days,' and the idea of this fictionalized version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor."

Reeves also disclosed that he wanted Pattinson's Batman to be less reliant on gadgets and a socialist life and more secluded and dark. He also said that he felt that the actor would be perfect for the role after seeing his performance in "Good Time."

He said, "In that movie, you could really feel his vulnerability and desperation, but you could also feel his power. I thought that was a great mix. He's got that Kurt Cobain thing, where he looks like a rock star, but you also feel like he could be a recluse."