Robert Pattinson, 33, looks like he was destined to be Batman. For the first time ever, fans got a look at Robert in his brand-new batsuit ahead of the 2021 release of The Batman! Director Matt Reeves threw the eager DC fan base a bone by sharing Robert’s camera test video on Feb. 13, which slowly panned over Robert in his tricked-out suit. The actor looked ready to hit the streets of Gotham and take on the Joker as a sinister red light bathed over Robert; the mood was made even more suspenseful thanks to the foreboding background music. Get hyped for Robert’s new role and watch the video below!
The fan reaction was immediate. “Robert Pattinson’s jawline was made for the batsuit. THATS IT. THAT’S THE TWEET #TheBatman,” one fan tweeted after watching the camera test, and another fan had to commend Robert for his steel-cutting jawline: “Robert Pattinson may have the sharpest jawline on the planet.” A third Twitter fan raved, “This looks gorgeous , loving the suit so far! Robert Pattinson is #TheBatman!”
It’s especially surreal to see Robert in the suit, considering what once hanged in his closet as a child! “When I was a kid, [a Batman costume] was the only outfit that I had,” Robert revealed in an interview with our sister website, Variety. Batman has long been a part of Robert’s life — he started off as a fan, like everyone else. “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,” he added. Matt finally caved in and met with Robert in Los Angeles — it looked like all that prodding paid off!
Unlike the reaction to the batsuit on Thursday, the response wasn’t exactly so positive when news broke of Robert’s unexpected casting as the new Batman in May of 2019. Fans have grown used to seeing Christian Bale and Ben Affleck assume the role of The Dark Knight in the past two decades, so it was quite a change of pace to imagine Robert, most known for his role as the heartthrob vampire Edward Cullen in Twilight, tackle such a complex anti-superhero. But as his recent roles in movies like The Lighthouse and The King prove, Robert is no longer just a dreamy bloodsucker.
Robert doesn’t mind the hate, anyways. “To be honest, [the backlash] was less vitriolic than I was expecting,” Robert also told Variety. “It’s much more fun when you’re an underdog. There’s no expectation of you.” He’s also been preparing himself for the spotlight. “Rob has been a part of huge films the likes of Harry Potter and most obviously the Twilight series and dealing with that fame and everything that came from it was a bit overwhelming. That is why it was important for him to do roles he was interested in and take a back seat to being a huge celebrity,” a source close to Robert EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife in May of 2019. “He wants to be an actor first in people’s eyes and, now that he is older and done so many independent parts, he is at a place where he can manage things better.”