Robert Pattinson's Awkward Demeanor Helped Performance In 'The Batman,' Says Director Matt Reeves

Robert Pattinson lost more of his "Twilight" notoriety last month when he made his DC debut in the wildly successful the "The Batman" movie. Since Christian Bale took on the role of Batman in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy, Pattinson's feature is the first rendition of the character to exist outside of the DCEU.

While the picture looked drastically different from previous adaptations, it gave homage to Batman's noir-detective beginnings, which had been overlooked in many of the caped crusader's previous iterations. 

Pattinson since has received critical acclaim for his depiction of Bruce Wayne and his vigilante alter ego in the film. Matt Reeves, the director of Batman, has now stated that Robert Pattinson's awkwardness helped inspire his enthralling performance.

Reeves was questioned about Pattinson's physical awkwardness in an interview with KCRW and how having to utilize it in depicting his Batman character must have been a blessing.

Reeves replied: "Not only is it a facet, obviously, of who he is, because obviously that's partly him, but it's something he's in control of as well. One of the things I found so fascinating about working with him is he works in a way that feels almost like a method actor. And yet, you can see that he has great access to his emotions, and he puts himself into a state."

The director went on to say that despite Pattinson's awkwardness, he has tremendous emotional control, which he put to good use in communicating the many moods as the film scenes transitioned between his Bruce Wayne persona and his Batman alter ego. Overall, because his character shift was more intuitive than forced, the moments flowed well.

Reeves also discussed that he chose not to do an origin story as Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan had wonderfully delivered such narratives in the previous iterations. However, while his work wasn't an origin narrative, it was essential for him to portray Bruce Wayne as a young man trying to pull himself together and find a way to operate in the early years of his vigilante act.

The filmmaker further described the remake as a "coming into being" tale for Pattinson's character rather than a storyline about him mastering himself. Wayne's family history is still burdened, the director said, as he didn't grasp anything that was motivating him since he was in a state of emotional breakdown.

With "The Batman's" popularity, it's almost laughable that so many fans were hesitant when Pattinson was cast as Bruce Wayne. At the start, he was not the public's favorite first pick for the role, as many felt he did not have the perfect muscular fit to play the crime-fighting vigilante. It was also cited that the actor is notorious for being both physically and socially uncomfortable in interviews.

After seeing how he executed his enthralling performance on the big screen, practically every Batman fan would now agree that Pattinson was the ideal match for the character and admire the adaptability and easiness with which he took on the superhero task.

In an interview with ComicBook, "The Batman" producer Dylan Clark answered fans' questions regarding the prospect of a sequel to Pattinson's newest crime-fighting film, suggesting that the next installment will arrive in fewer than five years.

Since the big announcement, fans have been speculating about the villains that could appear in the future movie. Following his Arkham Asylum talk with the Riddler at the end of the Batman film, some predicted Batman's greatest nemesis, Joker, would lead this cast. Others have speculated that the Penguin would play a more significant part after crossing swords with the vigilante in the most recent installment.

Regardless of the speculations, the showrunners have yet to settle on a narrative path due to their engagement with the production of one or two streaming spinoffs.