Robert Pattinson’s one post-Twilight indie film convinced Matt Reeves that he was the only actor who could take on The Batman role.

Matt Reeves revealed that he wrote The Batman with Robert Pattinson in mind. There were several actors on the shortlist to replace Ben Affleck as the next Dark Knight, including Pattinson, Nicholas Hoult, Armie Hammer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. The Twilight star was Reeves’ choice but he was unsure whether the actor would take on the role.

Matt Reeves on the sets of The Batman | Credits: DC Films/WB Pictures

After the Twilight Saga, Pattinson pretty much avoided franchise films in Hollywood and mostly worked in independent films. It was one such film that got him noticed for the role of Batman. Reeves shared that he was impressed after seeing Pattinson in 2017’s Good Time.

Robert Pattinson’s indie film performance got him the lead role in Matt Reeves’ The Batman

Robert Pattinson in a still from Good Time | Credits: A24

Matt Reeves and his The Batman star Zoë Kravitz met on Variety’s Directors on Directors series for a chat. Kravitz had made her filmmaking debut with Blink Twice, an underrated psychological thriller. When the conversation turned to their superhero movie together, Kravitz wanted to know about Reeves’ casting process.

Reeves shared that when he was writing the role of the Dark Knight, he “was thinking of [Robert Pattinson].” Reeves shared that he started ideating along the lines of an orphaned prince and connected his character to the late singer Kurt Cobain. It was at this point that someone introduced him to the 2017 film, Good Time.

Before the Safdie brothers became famous with Adam Sandler’s Uncut Gems, they made the very underrated indie crime-thriller starring Robert Pattinson. In the film, the Harry Potter actor played a small-time criminal Connie Nikas.

He brings along his developmentally disabled brother Nick, played by Bennie Safdie, to rob a bank but Nick gets caught in the process. Pattinson’s Connie’s attempts to free him from police custody make the premise of the film. The film earned highly positive reviews, earning $3.2 million against a $2 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).

Seeing this performance, Reeves was convinced that Pattinson was the only person he could imagine as Batman. However, he wasn’t sure whether Pattinson would agree to the role, that too in a major franchise like DC. It turned out Pattinson was obsessed with Batman. Reeves shared on Variety‘s Directors on Directors:

And then somewhere in there, someone told me to watch [the 2017 Robert Pattinson movie] Good Time. And I was like, ‘That’s the only person I could imagine as this Batman. I don’t think that I know what it is if it’s not him.’ It was weirdly fated, because it turned out that he was obsessed with Batman.

Pattinson later shared that he badly wanted the role that he “kept obsessively checking up on it” for nearly a year (via GamesRadar+). He also shared that he had seen every single one of the Batman movies. However, Reeves’ casting choice did not sit well with all sections of fans.

Robert Pattinson’s The Batman casting didn’t make everyone happy

Robert Pattinson in a still from The Batman | Credits: DC Films/WB Pictures

One of the highly anticipated DC films for fans would be the sequel to Robert Pattinson’s The Batman. The neo-noir take on the superhero in the first film earned praise for both the actor and the director. However, Pattinson initially received severe backlash for his casting in the film.

While he was able to prove his critics wrong later, Reeves explained why the actor’s casting was met with backlash. Reeves shared that the casting decision excited fans who knew about Pattinson’s films after Twilight. He shared that the backlash mainly came from those who didn’t know about these projects. Reeves shared with Esquire:

There has been no actor, when his announcement that he was going to be playing Batman in one of the feature films was announced, that has not received a backlash. The people who were excited, I knew it was because they knew Rob’s work post-Twilight. The people who weren’t excited, I knew it was because they didn’t know Rob’s work post-Twilight.

It appears that The Batman further gave a boost to Pattinson’s career. He has a slew of highly anticipated films up his slate including Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17, Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love, Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama, and Christopher Nolan’s next film.

The Batman is now available for streaming on Max.