Robert Pattinson is returning as Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves’ The Batman franchise, but he doesn’t expect his version of the Dark Knight to cross over into James Gunn’s wider DC Universe.
While Batman and Superman share one of the most famous friendships in DC Comics, Pattinson recently told LADbible that it would be “tough” for Reeves’ grounded Bruce Wayne to exist alongside characters like David Corenswet’s Superman in Gunn’s DCU.
“I think it would be kind of tough to have this version of Bruce outside of that world,” Pattinson said. “It’s one of the only characters, I guess because of the length of the shoots but also it’s such a specific kind of [style], the tone of it gets inside you.”
He added that the role has a lasting effect on him. “I remember that happened to me the last time I did it, it took a while. You’re just in the dark, the whole time. Both mood-wise and light-wise, I can’t see anything for like months. It does affect you; like you feel strange afterwards.”
Reeves’ The Batman, released in 2022, offered a darker, more grounded take on the iconic hero. Rather than a traditional superhero action film, it was a psychological crime noir. The story followed Pattinson’s Batman as he investigated Gotham’s hidden corruption after a sadistic serial killer began targeting key political figures.
Pattinson has reprised the role for Reeves’ The Batman Part II, which is currently in production and scheduled to hit theaters on Feb. 18, 2028.
The actor recently teased the sequel to Collider, calling it “a real left turn from the first” movie and saying it is “so ambitious.”
“The first one was a different take on a Batman movie, and this one is another… It’s a real left turn from the first one, but somehow it keeps elements of the kind of feel of it,” he explained. “But it just feels really ambitious, and I’m excited to see how it turns out.”