‘The Batman’ Star Robert Pattinson Teases ‘Jarring’ Opening Shot

How jarring?

Robert Pattinson The Batman Post-Credits Stinger HBO Max

The Batman star Robert Pattinson opened up about the film’s tone and opening shot.

We’re less than a month away from the release of Matt Reeves’s brooding and grounded take on The Dark Knight. Starring Robert Pattinson, The Batman is set to be a complete cinematic reinvention of the character, focusing on the iconic DC hero’s detective roots. From the footage we’ve seen, it’s pretty clear that this version of Batman is damaged and rough around the edges, especially because he’s been Gotham’s hero for only a few short years.

It’s obvious that the film will be a far cry from previous Batman projects, but just how different? Speaking with GQ, Robert Pattinson discussed how he saw a rough cut of The Batman and was blown away by the film’s opening shot, which he described as “jarring”.

“I watched a rough cut of the movie by myself. And the first shot is so jarring from any other Batman movie that it’s just kind of a totally different pace. It was what Matt was saying from the first meeting I had with him: ‘I want to do a ’70s noir detective story, like The Conversation.‘ And I kind of assumed that meant the mood board or something, the look of it. But from the first shot, it’s, ‘Oh, this actually is a detective story.’”

While live-screen adaptations of Batman have leaned into detective aspects, this should be the first time where the character’s noir roots are treated as a focal point. Pattinson continued by highlighting just how important the character’s detective aspect is in the upcoming film.

“I feel like an idiot, because I didn’t even know that Batman was the world’s greatest detective. I hadn’t heard that in my life before—but it really plays. Just ’cause there’s a lot of stuff where he’s in amongst the cops. Normally, when you see Batman he arrives and beats people up. But he’s having conversations, and there are emotional scenes between them, which I don’t think have been in any of the other movies.”

Here is the synopsis for The Batman:

Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies — Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) — amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.

When a killer targets Gotham’s elite with a series of sadistic machinations, a trail of cryptic clues sends the World’s Greatest Detective on an investigation into the underworld, where he encounters such characters as Selina Kyle/aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz), Oswald Cobblepot/aka the Penguin (Colin Farrell), Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), and Edward Nashton/aka the Riddler (Paul Dano). As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator’s plans becomes clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit, and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued Gotham City.

Directed by Matt Reeves, The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as the titular hero, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, Peter Sarsgaard as Gil Colson, Jayme Lawson as Bella Reál, with Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrell as the Penguin.

Source: GQ