Robert Pattinson Wants His Batman To Be 'Frightening'

Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson will be the next actor in a long line to don the cape and cowl of Batman. He's one of the most well known characters in modern fiction who has been portrayed a number of different ways by different actors over the years. We have little idea what sort of Batman we're going to get from Pattinson, but he may have just given us our first look into his thought process behind the character, and he wan't something that's going to be a little bit frightening.

In an interview for Pattinson's new film The Lighthouse, the actor reveals that what he doesn't want is to approach The Batman like it's the massive big budget studio tentpole that it is. Instead, he's looking to make it a different sort of experience, and he specifically says he wants the movie to be "frightening."

I wanted to do something on a big stage, and so I ended up doing Chris Nolan’s movie, which I was really, really happy about at the beginning of this year. And then Batman was kind of a surprise to me. Now that I’m starting to get into it, I don’t want to approach it as kind of a big studio thing where all you’re really doing is thinking about your trailer. I want to approach it in exactly the same way, I want it to be frightening, I want it to be something you lose yourself in.

Robert Pattinson's new movie The Lighthouse is one designed for both the actors and the audience to lose themselves in, and it's also somewhat frightening. While I don't think anybody plans to use The Lighthouse as a template for the next Batman movie, Robert Pattinson tells the BBC (via Twitter) that there are some aspects he would like to see the two movies share.

Batman as a character has always been supposed to be frightening to the criminals, but he rarely reaches that level with the audience. Seeing something that is designed to be a little frightening for the viewer would be one way to make this version of Batman stand out from the rest.

Pattinson himself admits that losing yourself in a Batman movie, the way you might in a more psychological or character driven movie, will be tough simply because so many people are familiar with the character, but he believes if he can make that work, he'll create something special.

Director Matt Reeves has indicated that he wanted his Batman movie to focus more on the character as a detective, a skill set that hasn't been a major focus in previous films. These two ideas could certainly work together. Batman trying to solve a mystery in a Gotham City that gets a little scary, is an interesting idea. I can certainly get behind it.

With The Batman not hitting screens until 2021, it's going to be a while before we get an idea just what sort of Batman movie we're in for.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.