While fans have yet to see Batman wear oversized sweaters, release Nevermind, or perform an entire MTV Unplugged set, Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne in The Batman may apparently be the closest we get.
In a new discussion with Empire, director Matt Reeves, the force behind the latest Dark Knight adaptation, spoke about what inspired his lead actor’s take on Bruce Wayne. As Reeves explains, it was a certain ‘90s grunge superstar.
“When I write, I listen to music, and as I was writing the first act, I put on Nirvana’s ‘Something In The Way’,” Reeves said. “That’s when it came to me that, rather than make Bruce Wayne the playboy version we’ve seen before, there’s another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse. So I started making this connection to Gus Van Sant’s Last Days, and the idea of this fictionalized version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor.”
With that in mind, Reeves set out to find his socially removed caped crusader, and he felt like he may have found him when he watched Pattinson’s role in the Safdie Brothers’ Good Time.
“In that movie you could really feel his vulnerability and desperation, but you could also feel his power,” he said. “I thought that was a great mix. He’s also got that Kurt Cobain thing, where he looks like a rock star, but you also feel like he could be a recluse.”
The Batman arrives in theaters on March 4, and just last week, DC fans were treated to a new international trailer of the film, featuring some never-before-seen footage of Pattinson in (and out of) his batsuit, with Paul Dano’s the Riddler making an appearance. Also starring in the film are Zoë Kravitz, Colin Farrell, and Jeffrey Wright. You can check out the clip here.
“Bruce has been hiding away,” Pattinson told the publication of his character. “He’s not really a socialite at all. He’s building all these little contraptions and things, just with Alfred. And even Alfred thinks he’s gone insane!”
