'The Batman': Robert Pattinson Is Matt Reeves' Top Choice, While Nicholas Hoult Is Also In Contention

The Bat signal has gone out in a big way tonight in Gotham, though the skies seem hazier than usual. Trade reports are flying fast like batarangs, but there is some confusion. Variety reports, flat out that Robert Pattinson (“Twilight,” “Good Time,” and starring in Christopher Nolan’s next untitled movie) has been cast as the next Batman in writer/director Matt Reeves’ upcoming, eponymous “The Batman” film. However, many of the other competing trades are playing it a little bit safer. Deadline and the Hollywood Reporter, are all admitting that Pattison is indeed the frontrunner for the role, but that Nicolas Hoult, having recently starred in “Tolkien,” and appearing next in, “X-Men: Dark Phoenix,” is also one of the lead contenders (and that Variety may have jumped the gun).

Both actors are British born and would be a return to a U.K. Batman, following Ben Affleck’s relatively short-lived turn as the characters in two DC Films movies and one extended cameo (“Suicide Squad”). Other names that have been floated, though it’s unclear if they are legitimate contenders are Armie Hammer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

The consensus appears to be— even from Variety—that no formal deal has been struck and no final decision has been made even though the 32-year-old Pattinson seems to have the overall edge. The actor has been in a kind of hardcore rehabilitation mode following his stint as a teen heartthrob in the “Twilight” films, aggressively courting auteurs and indie filmmakers. Even if some have been unsuccessful (Werner Herzog’s “Queen Of The Desert,” for example), his recent run of choices has been extremely impressive, running down a long and impressive list of respected filmmakers. Since 2012, Pattinson has worked with David Cronenberg twice (“Cosmopolis,” “Maps to the Stars“), James Gray (“The Lost City Of Z“), David Michod (“The Rover“), the Safdie brothers (“Good Time“) and most recently Claire Denis in the arthouse sci-fi film “High Life.” There has not been one mainstream commercial film in that run since and the upcoming list of names Pattison has lined-up includes “The Witch” director Robert Eggers (“The Lighthouse,” which debuts at Cannes this week), David Michod again (“The King“), Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra (“Waiting For the Barbarians,” opposite Johnny Depp), and Antonio Campos (“The Devil All The Time”). If the list weren’t so immaculately manicured, one might accuse Pattison of mercenary calculation, but his taste seems to skew towards the artful and thoughtful generally.

“The Batman” may not seem like the most obvious fit, but Matt Reeves certainly is perfectly in line with the filmmaker first strategy the actor has adopted. “The Batman” has been under much speculation and hyper-focus for the last year, with reporters after every little drip of information and slightest updates.

Nothing is known about the film, but Reeves said last year, ”You can’t have Batman without a villain,” and admitted the movie would feature “a rogues gallery” of antagonists.

Reeves’ recharged the “Planet of the Apes” series for Warner Bros last. Pattinson’s next move will be working with Warner Bros. on Christopher Nolan’s new film this summer. “The Batman” is set for a June 25, 2021 release an is expected to shoot either late 2019 or early 2020.