Robert Pattinson’s Take On Batman Is Definitely a Departure from the Snyderverse
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The star of director Matt Reeve’s The Batman, Robert Pattinson, tells the French language version of Premiere magazine this week that his Batman is not the version Ben Affleck portrayed, more adroitly, the Batman definitely doesn’t kill.
The press around the The Batman is strongly telegraphing that this is not Zack Snyder’s Batfleck. “There is this rule with Batman: he must not kill,” said Pattinson. “It can be interpreted in two ways. Either he only wants to inflict the appropriate punishment, or he wants to kill and his self-control prevents him from doing so.”
“I imagined it that way from the rehearsal of the first fight, I thought it was funnier: something in him just wanted to slit the guy’s throat! I told myself that if he spends his nights chasing criminals, it is impossible that he does not take pleasure in it. He suffers and it is a desire that overwhelms him. And by dint of knocking, his mind clears, he calms down, he reaches a state close to plenitude. I’m sure in this first fight, he manages to convince himself that every guy in front of him is the one who killed his mother [laughs]. And so that allows him to vent all his rage.
“The interesting thing is that this Batman practically lives in the gutter. He’s nowhere at home except on the street when he’s wearing the suit. He lives a criminal life, but without committing crimes! I felt like I could get something out of that. Anyway, I could only play a superhero if he was really dirty!”
The Guardian: Both the Christian Bale and Michael Keaton versions stood out for being noble and reserved, bound to their duty to defend Gotham against criminals and supervillains alike. There was rarely any suggestion that they took pleasure in inflicting pain on their victims. Ben Affleck’s take came across very differently, as a pugnacious, brutal bully willing to use guns and heavy weaponry to take down anyone who got in his way – at least in the knuckle-headed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
The Hollywood Reporter: “Remember we never kill with weapons of any kind!” Those words, uttered by the Caped Crusader to his partner, Robin, in Batman No. 4 (1940) marked the debut of Batman’s “no-kill rule,” an aspect of the hero that has become almost as fundamental a character trait as his cape and cowl … in the comics at least.
The film adaptations, on the other hand, have played fast and loose with that rule, with it sometimes existing as a suggestion, other times a matter of semantics, and occasionally, not existing at all. The issue of Batman’s no-killing policy is raised with every new Batman film, along with the extension of that rule — Batman doesn’t use guns, except for y’know on all his cars, tanks, motorcycles and planes. Oh, and the spear-guns, for sharks of course.
Polygon pointed out in 2019: Less than a year after Batman debuted, DC Comics made it a general rule that he would not use lethal force or guns. Despite this, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder has repeatedly criticized fans who generally prefer that superheroes don’t kill, and recently said those who think lethal force is against the core of Batman are living in a “dream world.”
Now, I don’t dispute that originally Bruce Wayne was allowed to kill, or that DC Entertainment has the right to sign off on stories where he does so again. And I don’t dispute that there are entertaining Batman stories where he does kill. But let’s talk about why the no killing rule was created — and how it was done with the enthusiastic support of one of Batman’s co-creators, Bill Finger, without whom Batman as we know him would never have existed in the first place.
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THR: The Batman star Robert Pattinson’s recent statements about Batman’s use of lethal force have renewed the conflicting takes on Batman’s methods, especially given that this interpretation of Bruce Wayne is more mentally unstable than the previous versions. Early reports from test screenings claim that this is a rule Pattinson’s Batman sticks to in the film and is highlighted by a specific plot point. Yet, Pattinson’s comments spawned a number of social media remarks about a Batman who kills being more “relatable,” “realistic” and “badass,” all of which are bullshit notions born of certain fans’ desire for superheroes to be taken more seriously.
BLAME ZACK SNYDER
It’s got to be said that some of the vocal minority who think Pattinson’s Batman is lesser because of his no-kill rule are offering up takes that have nothing to do with the character himself. It does however have everything to do with their inability to accept that Ben Affleck has moved on from Batman, with a small supporting role in The Flash being his farewell to the character. No amount of #MaketheBatfleckMovie trends is going to change the fact that Affleck said, numerous times, he’s moving on and the decision had just as much to do with his own health as it did his creative process. But, of course, there’s no rationalizing with people who see actors solely as deliverymen who exist to provide them the content they crave.
It’s clear that Reeves is building something different than what we’ve seen onscreen with Batman before. This isn’t a story simply relegated to a trilogy, or one subject to the whims and creative choices of a larger cinematic universe. Reeves is building a universe around Batman, one spanning films and HBO Max series, based around Gotham Central and Penguin. He has discussed characters, like Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz) in terms that suggest an evolution over the course of the franchise. And Reeves’ preproduction Twitter posts reference the ’60s Batman series, suggest that like those episodic narratives, his Batman will have a full cast of rogues, who are around for more than a single installment, something we haven’t seen in a Batman film, except for the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) in Nolan’s trilogy. Similar to the comics, by strongly enforcing Batman’s no-kill rule, Reeves allows for a scenario in which we can see a full house at Arkham Asylum and find villains like Penguin and Joker interacting, which we’ve missed out on.
Imagine being mad Pattinson’s Batman doesn’t kill. Yes, Batman has killed in movies before, as he did in the early comics, and sometimes there’s been thematic weight to it, but he’s had that rule since 1940. Idk y’all, kinda weird to see folks passionately want Batman to murder.
— Richard Newby (@RICHARDLNEWBY) January 22, 2022
But beyond franchise ambitions, a Batman who doesn’t kill isn’t forced to justify why some villains live and others don’t or get into the murky sociopolitical aspects of a guy murdering civilians in a time where police brutality is more widely discussed than ever. But most importantly, a Batman who doesn’t kill is a superhero. He’s not a gothic fairy tale, he’s not a symbol or a mere vigilante, and he’s not a villainous portrayal of post-9/11 paranoia and corruption, as he has been depicted as through Keaton, Bale and Affleck’s tenures. Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne has a chance to be better morally, to use Batman as something that lifts him up out of the darkness, rather than something that pulls him down, back to that cave he fell into as a child.
Like when he has done so I’ve accepted it, and on occasion even delved into why it made sense for a specific iteration of the character at that point in his career. But the idea that he has to kill in order to be “realistic” is bullshit.
— Richard Newby (@RICHARDLNEWBY) January 22, 2022
This notion, of Pattinson’s Batman emerging as the most heroic and truest to the comic character’s morality, perhaps seems odd given that Reeves’ film may be the darkest Bat-film yet. But I think all the signs are there. It’s evident in composer Michael Giacchino’s recently released theme for The Batman, which steadily rises out of the darkness and moodiness, to become something hopeful yet weighty. A Batman who kills simply cannot last, because such a contradiction cannot thrive long within a character who never wants to put another child through the violence he experienced. A Batman who kills becomes something else, and we have enough other characters to fill the void of the murderous antihero.
We’ve seen Batman lose his way in two previous franchises and watched just how low the role can take him, be it the depths of the Lazarus Pit or the death of Superman. Now, it’s time to build a better Batman, and watch him glide over the pitfalls that would see his reign end all too soon.
