Matt Reeves' The Batman is about the Caped Crusader "trying to find his footing"
Warner Bros. hired Matt Reeves to cook up a new Batman movie back in 2017, and since then we’ve learned precious little about the filmmaker’s take on the Caped Crusader. That’s beginning to change with the recent casting of Robert Pattinson as the eponymous hero in The Batman. A new feature published by The Hollywood Reporter offers a glimpse into the casting process—which happened “quicker than normal”—along with this interesting detail about the film’s plot:
…the story is neither another rehashing of his origin nor the tale of a seasoned crimefighter ruling Gotham City. He is Bruce Wayne still trying to find his footing on his way to becoming the genius detective.
Basically, Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne is not a boy, not yet a Batman. It’s also something of a relief to learn that The Batman will not be yet another retelling of what has become a woefully (and laughably) familiar origin story. Specifically, I hope this means that we won’t have to sit through yet another version of Thomas and Martha Wayne’s murder—unless Reeves has a wild take on it, like maybe they died in a tragic cotton candy accident at the Gotham carnival. That I might watch.
THR has some other interesting bits in their report, which confirms that Pattinson was an early favorite thanks to his outstanding performances in recent films like Good Time and High Life. It’s nice to think that Matt Reeves was imagining Robert Pattinson in the bat suit while watching a sci-fi movie that includes a delightful room referred to as “the fuck box.” As is tradition for Batman screen-tests, Pattinson (and fellow frontrunner Nicholas Hoult) wore a bat suit from a previous film, and though the exact costume was not specified, that piece of info should keep the Pattinson stans on Tumblr busy for the next few hours.