When preparing for a role, particularly in superhero movies, most actors tend to draw inspiration from classic comics. While The Batman director Matt Reeves was certainly influenced by works such as Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween, star Robert Pattinson borrowed from some unlikely source material for his upcoming portrayal of the Dark Knight.
The film follows Batman during his second year of fighting crime as he pursues the Riddler, a serial killer who attacks Gotham City's wealthy citizens. Since The Batman reboots the franchise without going over Bruce Wayne's origin story, Pattinson leaned on his research to understand the masked vigilante's motivations for donning the iconic suit.
To find his way into the character, the actor looked into 1989's Batman: Shaman and, to a lesser extent, The Man Who Falls. Much like the upcoming film, Shaman is set during the early years of Batman's career, though it dives more into mysticism. "It's almost a dream state the whole time," Pattinson recently said of the comic while speaking with Entertainment Weekly. "I was like, 'Oh, that hasn't really been touched on.' There's a kind of mysticism to it." Pattinson also said that Batman: Shaman influenced how he moved in his new and improved Batsuit, explaining that he "wanted [it to feel like] a sort of druid."
Moreover, Pattinson stated that the mysticism present in the comic helped him understand why the Gotham Police Department allows Batman to investigate crime scenes, as they likely see him as an other-worldly figure because of the Batsuit. "I was trying to play that, trying to think: 'How can you be a detective when you are wearing this outfit, which is the opposite of a detective?' I thought it's kind of [like] he's a witch doctor more than anything else," he said.
Pattinson and Reeves also consulted other titles such as Birth of The Demon, Batman: Earth One, and Batman: Ego because this neo-noir iteration of the caped crusader intends to delve into Batman's psychology, his inner demons, and the pitfalls of having a persona. "Ego really gets into this idea of the beast within him and that struggle. So, that got into the really internal, psychological struggle of being Batman," said Reeves.
In addition to Pattinson, The Batman stars Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Colin Ferrell as The Penguin, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, Peter Sarsgaard as district attorney Gil Colson, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, and Barry Keoghan as officer Stanley Merkel. The film is set to create its own Bat-verse, as it will be followed by two direct sequels and two The Batman spin-off series for HBO Max.
The Batman opens in theaters on March 4, 2022, and streams on HBO Max on April 19.
Source: Entertainment Weekly