Matt Reeves reveals why Robert Pattinson's role in Tenet left him "devastated"

Robert Pattinson and John David Washington in Tenet
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

The Batman director Matt Reeves has revealed why Robert Pattinson being cast in Tenet left him particularly upset. 

Pattinson plays the Caped Crusader himself in Reeves' film, with Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the Riddler, Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Jeffrey Wright as Jim Gordon, and Andy Serkis as Alfred. 

But, Reeves was worried that Pattinson's part in Christopher Nolan's film would prevent him from being able to play Batman. 

"I was aware that he was doing Tenet, and I thought that was really cool," Reeves told the ReelBlend podcast. "In fact, I was a little – let me tell you how it really affected me. I wrote the story, I wrote this script with Rob in mind. I wanted him to be my Batman. I had no idea if he was going to be Batman, and when it was announced that he was cast by Chris in Tenet, I was devastated."

He continued: "Because I was convinced that if he was going to choose – because he'd been doing all of these art films and he'd been working with all these interesting filmmakers... And I was like, 'If he's going to do a blockbuster, will it be Batman, and would he do more than one?' And so when he's doing a blockbuster with one of the definitive Batman filmmakers, I thought, 'Okay, so there goes that. He's not gonna want to be Batman."

Luckily for Reeves, Pattinson was indeed interested in playing Batman, and the rest is history. 

The Batman is in theaters now. If you've seen the movie, check out our ultimate collection of guides to the film right here: 


Molly Edwards
Senior Entertainment Writer

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English. 

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