The Batman: Matt Reeves Reveals His Reaction To the Original Robert Pattinson Backlash

As The Batman premiere approaches, director Matt Reeves is addressing the initial backlash surrounding Robert Pattinson’s casting as the dark knight, as well as the discourse surrounding Batman’s eyeliner.

Speaking to Esquire, Reeves said Pattinson simply underwent the rites of passage every actor faces when cast as the Caped Crusader.

“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,” Reeves said.

Reeves has a point as the Batman fanbase famously reacted poorly to Ben Affleck’s casting as Bruce Wayne back in 2013, and even Heath Ledger’s casting as Joker. The director adds that some fans were initially excited about Pattinson’s reveal, while the negative reactions may have largely come from the actor’s big break in the Twilight movies. Beyond Twilight, Pattinson is known for appearing in films like The Lighthouse, Tenet, and more.

“The people who were excited, I knew it was because they knew Rob’s work post-Twilight,” Reeves said. The people who weren’t excited, I knew it was because they didn’t know Rob’s work post-Twilight.”

The director also dove into the decision to cast Pattinson, saying his performance in Good Time conveyed the emotions Reeves wanted out of Batman, in addition to wanting to cast a younger man.

“Of course, the idea [to fit with the Year One story] was to make him a younger actor,” Reeves said. “And in the process of writing the movie, I watched [the fantastic 2017 Safdie brothers film] Good Time, and I thought, ‘Okay, he’s got an inner kind of rage that connects with this character and a dangerousness, and I can feel this desperation.’ And I became dead-set on it being Rob. And I had no idea if Rob had any interest! Because, of course, he had done all of these indie movies after he established himself in Twilight.”

And, Reeves responded to the fan feedback about Batman’s noticeable eyeliner in the movie’s trailers, saying that’s just a part of the role.

“You can’t wear a cowl and not wear [eyeliner]. All of the Batmen wear that,” Reeves said. “I just loved the idea of taking off [the mask] and under that there’s the sweating and the dripping and the whole theatricality of becoming this character.”

We’re just a few weeks away from seeing how Pattinson’s performance as Batman will pan out, as The Batman is set to open on March 4. For more, learn about the four-hour cut of The Batman that was shown in early test screenings.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.