Robert Pattinson Dons the Dark Knight’s Cowl in Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’

There’s a new Dark Knight in town. Robert Pattinson makes his official debut into the DC Extended Universe as Matt Reeves’ Batman in the upcoming solo Bat movie.

According to Variety, Pattinson is currently in negotiations to star as the new Batman but is expected to close on the deal shortly. But that’s not the only good tidbit, because we now have an official release date for Reeves’ The Batman—June 25, 2021.

Pattinson rose to fame as a former Twilight heartthrob and went on to star in a number of arthouse films. This move officially makes him the youngest Batman actor ever. Having Pattinson in the fore will definitely shake things up, seeing how the DCEU is gearing towards more solo outings than building a coherent cinematic universe.

‘The Batman’s’ Rocky Timeline

Pattinson inherits the cowl from Ben Affleck, who first played the Dark Knight in 2016’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and portrayed him in Suicide Squad and Justice League. News of a solo Batman film was announced shortly after BvS, with Affleck originally writing the screenplay and helming the project. But due to numerous dead ends in terms of story, Affleck decided to depart the film and hand over the reins to Reeves, who was then fresh off the success of the first two Planet of the Apes movies.

In July 2018, it was reported that Reeves was looking for a younger actor to portray his Dark Knight. Among the actors on his list were Jake Gyllenhaal and Jack Huston—much to the disappointment of fans. Many were still rooting for Armie Hammer to fulfill his quashed 2007 Batman role in George Miller’s scrapped Justice League: Mortal project.

Then, just as 2019 started, Affleck revealed that he’s no longer attached to the role and is ready to pass on the suit. Despite this, the actor still remains as one of the movie’s producers.

Filming for The Batman will reportedly begin by the end of 2019.