The casting decision ultimately came down to two contenders, but it looks like audiences are indeed going to see Robert Pattinson as Batman in director Matt Reeves‘ new movie.

A new report says Warner Bros. has approved the High Life star to play The Dark Knight in The Batman after a screen test between Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult (Tolkien), but the decision has now been made and an official announcement is expected to arrive soon. They also say Reeves is on board to direct a trilogy, and Pattinson’s contract will lock him in for at least two more movies.



Earlier this month, Variety published a report saying Pattinson was in negotiations for the title role in Warner Bros. and DC’s upcoming movie, but almost instantly, Deadline published a piece revealing Hoult was also being considered for the part. Yesterday, the two actors were screen testing for the studio:

BATMAN UPDATE: Robert Pattinson & Nicholas Hoult are screen testing for the role. I suspect they're screen testing in the Batsuit because Wardrobe Department will need full wardrobe test. Additionally, the film will now start production in Q1 2020.? pic.twitter.com/eekafrqomL — Umberto Gonzalez (@elmayimbe) May 30, 2019

Deadline confirms that screen test took place yesterday, and revealed that Pattinson won out. And while The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzalez says production gets underway at the start of 2020, Deadline’s sticking to the claim that filming starts sometime in 2019. Not sure who has their wires crossed on that one, but we’ll keep you posted when we hear more. Hopefully the studio will include that information when they make this casting official in a press release.

Pattinson remains an unexpected but strong choice to play Batman. He’s a guy with the ability to play Bruce Wayne as a devil-may-care playboy in social situations, but also switch to an introspected, soul-searing version in private. While he doesn’t have the beefy build of Ben Affleck, Pattinson’s version is supposed to be a younger guy who embodies the “world’s greatest detective” angle of Batman that hasn’t been at the forefront of the character in several movies. Nicholas Hoult would have been a fine choice, but there’s an inherent darkness to Pattinson that I think is a better fit for a guy who dresses up as a bat and fights crime. For more on why Pattinson is the right man for the job, read this piece.

Reeves, who took over Fox’s Planet of the Apes franchise from Rupert Wyatt and turned that into one of the best movie trilogies ever, is an exciting choice to inject some life back into one of WB’s most iconic characters. Deadline says the studio still needs to hammer out the specifics of the casting deal with Pattinson, and that mention of a trilogy seems to be the first reported confirmation of something Reeves has hinted at in the past.

The Batman swoops into theaters on June 25, 2021.