The results are in, and Robert Pattinson is the best Batman/ Bruce Wayne there’s ever been. That’s according to fellow Brit and The Batman co-star, Andy Serkis, who poured out praise for Pattinson’s brooding performance during a recent red carpet appearance. One of the year’s most anticipated films, The Batman’s initial casting caused plenty of backlash, but critics, fans, and now even fellow actors have since come around.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Serkis said:
“Rob Pattinson’s Batman is just terrific. He’s extraordinary both as Bruce Wayne and Batman, and the vulnerability that he brings to Bruce and the power that he brings to Batman is just, you know, he was so wonderful to work with.”
By Serkis’ account, Pattinson could be moving up in DC fan’s ranks as they re-evaluate their favorites—among Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, Val Kilmer, and more—in anticipation of this weekend’s premiere. As if the film’s uncanny casting wasn’t enough, many were intrigued to find that it stays true to the comic book plot focused on Wayne’s dark detective origins as opposed to the swank superhero of blockbusters past.
By the time the first trailer premiered, it piqued interest as fans witnessed Pattinson’s transformation into Gotham’s own alter-ego vigilante. Deadline has also made early criticisms of Pattinson’s on-screen antics, saying:
“This is a Batman you have never seen before. Pattison takes on the iconic role and makes it his own.”
The former Twilight heartthrob shared how he pulled off such an impressive introspective feat in a recent Screen Rant interview.
“What made it easy is that he really hasn’t figured out where Bruce ends and where Batman begins at this point in our telling of the story. And so sometimes (it’s) Bruce seeping out of Batman. And there are a couple of scenes where I’m doing a kind of little, subtle vocal change. It’s incredibly subtle a lot of times,” he said.
Serkis’ comment is even more compelling given that the actor is also renowned for his many shapeshifting roles. The producer/director who brings a fresh take to the formidable series as Bruce’s trusty butler Alfred is hailed as one of the industry’s most infamous and awarded motion capture performers.
His most iconic roles often involve animation and voice work for computer-generated characters like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings franchise from 2001–2003 and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), King, and ape hero Caesar in the Planet of the Apes remakes between 2011–2017.
Serkis, who also recently directed Venom II: Let There Be Carnage, also starred as Captain Haddock/Sir Francis Haddock in Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin (2011) and played the Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017).