Robert Pattinson To Become THE BATMAN

Looks like Matt Reeves' long-gestating The Batman now finally has its The Batman: Robert Pattinson. Nicholas Hoult, Armie Hammer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson have also been floated, but the Hollywood Reporter says Pattinson is the front-runner.

According to Variety, the deal isn't quite finalised, but the trade's sources say Pattinson is expected to sign on the dotted line "shortly." Variety states that he'll be the youngest actor ever to play the character, but he'll actually be a couple years older than Christian Bale was when he made Batman Begins. Amusingly, R-Pattz's next project is actually for Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan himself: an as-yet untitled film set for summer 2020.

As for the film: if you didn't know, Planet of the Apes' Reeves took over The Batman in January 2017, with Ben Affleck vacating the title role subsequently; speculation has been widespread as to who would score the role. The script is still undergoing some final polish, with pre-production slated to begin this summer.

If you'd told me this news ten years ago, I would've laughed in your stupid face. But since the Twilight series wrapped up, Pattinson has plied his celebrity into a series of projects working with interesting auteurs, becoming something of an unlikely indie darling in the process. Watch him in High Life, or Good Time, or The Rover, or Damsel, or The Lost City of Z, or either of his two David Cronenberg films. My dude has both chops and taste, and pairing him with Reeves, equally blessed with chops and taste, is an exciting prospect. Not to mention: that charm is surely gonna come in handy playing Bruce Wayne.

The Batman hits theatres, probably starring R-Batz, on June 25, 2021.