Tenet, the 2020 mind-bending thriller helmed by former Batman director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight trilogy), starred Pattinson as Neil, the handler of the Protagonist. The role raised many concerns for Reeves when he was preparing to work on The Batman, as the director had Pattinson in mind when he was writing the script.

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When the Pattinson was cast in Tenet, Reeves was devastated, feeling that his goal to see Pattinson don the cape and cowl had failed. “I was aware that he was doing Tenet, and I thought that was really cool. In fact, I was a little … Let me tell you how it really affected me,” Reeves told the ReelBlend Podcast. “I wrote the story, I wrote this script with Rob in mind. I wanted him to be my Batman. I had no idea if he was gonna be Batman, and when it was announced that he was cast by Chris in Tenet, I was devastated. I was convinced – because he’d been doing all of these art films and he’d been working with all these interesting filmmakers … If he’s gonna do a blockbuster, will it be Batman and would he do more than one?"

Reeves noted that Pattinson joining a film by Nolan, who received acclaim for his own Batman trilogy, only added to his concerns. “When he’s doing a blockbuster with one of the definitive Batman filmmakers, I thought, ‘Okay, so there goes that. He’s not gonna want to be Batman,’” the director continued. Luckily, Pattinson was a huge Batman fan, and now seeing what he and Reeves were able to cook up in this new film, it’s hard to picture anything better when it comes to telling a Batman story.

The Batman has opened up with rave reviews and even more impressive box office numbers, as the film has now cemented itself as one of, if not THE best Batman film. A big reason for that, other than the incredible performances, stunning visuals, and assured direction, is the heavy focus on the detective side of Batman, an aspect that was not explored as deeply in previous live-action installments starring the DC hero. The Batman’s story takes place in Bruce Wayne’s/Batman’s second year of fighting crime, as he is forced to deal with corruption and tracking down the Riddler, a serial killer with ties to his tragic past.

With two more sequels in the works along with two spin-off series for HBO Max, one focusing on the Penguin and the other on the GCPD, it will be interesting to see how Reeves and the rest of the team continue expanding this new Batman universe and what other iconic comic book characters and storylines will be featured. Joining Pattinson are stars Paul Dano as the Riddler, Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Peter Sarsgaard as district attorney Gil Colson.

The Batman is now playing in theaters and will be available to stream on HBO Max on April 19, 2022.

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Source: ReelBlend Podcast/YouTube