3 June 2025
Colin Farrell and Danny DeVito participated in Variety’s Actors on Actors since they both portrayed The Penguin in a Batman film. This is what transpired when Danny asked Colin who was your Batman:
DeVito: Who was your Batman?
Farrell: Robert Pattinson.
DeVito: And I had the great Michael Keaton, who was trying to kill me.
Farrell: Robert, what a thing to step into. I thought he was brilliant in it and completely original. It was gorgeous. In the world that Matt Reeves presented in the film, Batman was known of, but he hadn’t quite become the staple of Gotham society. My Penguin knew of him, because Oz is dreaming of rising to the top; he’s a very aspirational character. And so Batman represents that. There’s an envy, but there’s also an admiration.
26 December 2024
Variety shared this clip of Matt Reeves talking with Zoe Kravitz about writing his process of writing the script for The Batman and visualising Rob in the role. If you want to read the full by clicking the Variety hyperlink
When #TheBatman director Matt Reeves was writing the film’s script, he imagined Robert Pattinson in the role. | Variety #DirectorsOnDirectors presented by @AmazonMGMStudio https://t.co/uOpiEBMZ57 pic.twitter.com/hEzyVtjzOl
— Variety (@Variety) December 18, 2024
Extract Transcript:
Kravitz: How do you feel about casting? Especially when you’re doing a superhero film where there’s been so many other versions.
Reeves: I had to find a personal way into Batman and then think about how somebody could bring something personal to me. You’re always looking for an internal life that’s going to take what this story is and make us feel like you’re getting a glimpse into what this person’s struggle is. It’s weird: To be totally honest, when I was writing, I was thinking of Rob.
Kravitz: It just popped into your head?
Reeves: Well, I just started thinking about the children of Princess Diana, and the idea of being this orphaned prince. For some reason, I don’t know why, that made a connection to Kurt Cobain for me. 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.
Not sure if anyone has been watching The Penguin (which is great), and I keep waiting for Rob as Batman to appear. Well according to Matt Reeves they tried to tie Rob into the series, but understandably so ….
Matt Reeves confirmed they tried to get Robert Pattinson’s Batman in The Penguin show, but they couldn’t find a way to do it where he didn’t steal the show 🦇
— BLURAYANGEL 🦇 (@blurayangel) September 29, 2024
“Batman is a powerful figure.”#ThePenguin pic.twitter.com/EKPCwzOoNB
Matt Reeves spoke to Deadline about Michael Giacchino’s score for The Batman and had this to say about Rob:
The preparing of The Batman‘s score long ahead of production benefitted the project in every stage of its creation, informing everything from tweaks to the script, to the post-production process. Then, there were the actors, including Pattinson, who were able to zone very precisely into the emotion and rhythms of a scene by listening to the music on set. “[Robert] actually said to me…the thing that was really a window for him emotionally [into the project] was listening to the music,” remembers Reeves. “And he listened to it again and again and again.”
Matt also spoke exclusively to Steve Weintraub from Collider and had this to say about Rob and the Batman sequel currently being written:
When we sat down with Reeves, we had to ask if he was shooting any films this year. At first, the director tried to play coy, by telling us “I’m not going to answer that question, but we are working on a movie. I’ll put it to you that way.” But then he revealed, “We’re deep in it and my partner and I are writing, Mattson [Tomlin] and I are writing, and it’s really exciting, and I’m really excited about what we’re doing.” Tomlin also worked with Reeves on The Batman’s script.
During our interview, Reeves also said that he’s “really excited to be doing that with Rob, because I just think he’s such a special person and actor.” So, while Gunn and Safran’s DC Universe changes have made many question the future of Pattinson and Reeves Batman sequel, unless something radically changes, fans can look forward to seeing the sequel.
