Robert Pattinson's Time As Batman Got Off To An Even Rockier Start Than We Realized

The release date of the highly anticipated "The Batman," directed by Matt Reeves (who co-wrote the screenplay alongside Peter Craig), is now less than a month away, slated to premiere in theaters on March 6. The film stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, who is two years into fighting crime in Gotham City as Batman. In an effort to catch the Riddler (Paul Dano), a serial killer targeting Gotham City residents, Batman must make new allies — such as Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) — to catch the Riddler. "The Batman" also features Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, and Colin Farrel as Penguin.

Pattinson is the latest in a long line of actors to play the iconic character of Batman. The role was most recently played by Ben Affleck in DCU films including 2017's "Justice League" and 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and, before that, Christian Bale in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" trilogy. Other actors who have taken on the role include Michael Keaton, George Clooney, and Val Kilmer.

When our newest Bruce Wayne, Pattinson, was offered the role, he revealed to GQ that it was a "no hesitation yes" to take on the role. However, once he actually stepped into the role, Pattinson got off to quite a rocky start.

In a recent interview with GQ, "The Batman" star Robert Pattinson revealed that when shooting began at the end of 2019, things got off to a successful start. However, then an on-set injury put a dent into the production's smooth sailing. Pattinson explained, "Then I broke my wrist at the beginning of it all, doing a stunt, even before COVID. So the whole first section was trying to keep working out — looking like a penguin. I remember when that seemed like the worst thing that could go wrong."

Of course, a broken wrist turned out to be far from the worst thing that could happen, as, just a few months later, a global pandemic began and delayed just about every single film and television production, "The Batman" included. After "The Batman" managed to get up and running again, Pattinson tested positive for COVID in September 2020 and filming was further delayed. All in all, filming was stretched to 18 months, which, as writer Daniel Riley of GQ points out, is "approximately the total time on set of every other Robert Pattinson movie of late combined."

Despite the uneasy process, Pattinson and the rest of the cast and crew eventually finished the film, much to the delight of excited Batman fans everywhere. We can't wait to see Pattinson embody Bruce Wayne when the film premieres on March 6.