The first full trailer for Robert Pattinson’s dark take on Batman (or The Batman) has arrived, following a teaser shared while the film was still in production last year.
The new, two-and-a-half-minute preview also introduces Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, alongside The Batman’s primary villains: the Riddler (played by an elusive Paul Dano) and the Penguin (Colin Farrell). Andy Serkis also stars as Bruce Wayne’s right hand man, Alfred.
“If you think of Bruce Wayne as a recluse rock star in a decaying mansion, there’s a part of me that so saw (Pattinson),” explains director Matt Reeves at DC’s 2021 FanDome event (via Polygon), telling the actor: “I had no idea you’d be interested in playing the role at all.”
“For me (Pattinson was) always that version of what I saw in the page,” he adds. “And that was about creating a new version of Bruce.”
Comparing his new version of the caped crusader to previous iterations, Pattinson adds that there’s less delineation between when he’s Batman and when he’s Bruce Wayne. “In other versions, he really knows what he’s doing when he puts on the cowl,” the actor says, but this time: “He’s a bit out of control. He hasn’t really defined what Batman is. He puts it on every night. He isn’t sleeping. He’s becoming this sort of odd creature.”
Robert Pattinson was first announced as the front-runner for the new Batman role back in 2019, and the news was met with a mixed response. Many fans found it difficult to separate him from the Twilight stardom that established his career, or to forget the chemistry between Christian Bale’s Batman and Heath Ledger’s Joker.
Others, however, have pointed to Pattinson’s many arthouse cinema roles post-Twilight Saga – including an unhinged seaman in Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, an unholy preacher in The Devil All the Time, and a spacefaring criminal in Claire Denis’ High Life – as evidence that he’s well-equipped for the role.
Take a look for yourself in the new trailer below.