The Batman will be making some significant changes to the Bruce Wayne persona, as star Robert Pattinson describes the billionaire’s decision to dress like a giant bat and beat bad guys as “almost like a drug addiction.” With The Batman taking place so early in Wayne’s unorthodox career, the idea of the playboy has not yet come to fruition, with Pattinson explaining to GQ that he will instead be portraying a very “sad” version of the DC character, who the actor calls a “weirdo.”

While other big-screen versions of The Batman have quickly made a difference to the criminal enterprises that plague Gotham City, Pattinson’s take will instead make things worse. Which only adds to Bruce Wayne’s rage and frustration.

“I’ve definitely found a little interesting thread. He doesn’t have a playboy persona at all, so he’s kind of a weirdo as Bruce and a weirdo as Batman, and I kept thinking there’s a more nihilistic slant to it. ‘Cause, normally, in all the other movies, Bruce goes away, trains, and returns to Gotham believing in himself, thinking, I’m gonna change things here. But in this, it’s sort of implied that he’s had a bit of a breakdown.”

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Bruce Wayne’s Decision to Become Batman is Not a Healthy One

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Instead of his emergence as The Batman being something triumphant, Wayne’s decision to fight crime in a cape and cowl will be shown as an irrational act caused by his childhood trauma. “And I kept trying to play into that, I kept trying to think, and I’m going to express this so badly, but there’s this thing with addressing trauma…. All the other stories say the death of his parents is why Bruce becomes Batman, but I was trying to break that down in what I thought was a real way, instead of trying to rationalize it,” Pattinson continued. “He’s created this intricate construction for years and years and years, which has culminated in this Batman persona. But it’s not like a healthy thing that he’s done.”

“But this thing he’s doing, it’s not even working. Like, it’s two years into it, and the crime has gotten worse since Bruce started being Batman. The people of Gotham think that he’s just another symptom of how shit everything is. There’s this scene where he’s beating everyone up on this train platform, and I just love that there’s a bit in the script where the guy he’s saving is also just like: Ahh! It’s worse! You’re either being mugged by some gang members, or a monster comes and, like, f-cking beats everybody up! The guy has no idea that Batman’s come to save him. It just looks like this werewolf.”

According to Pattinson, The Batman will not shy away from the psychological issues at play, and the insanity inherent in the methods of The Dark Knight. Something which has become an addiction for Bruce Wayne, much to the concern of his loyal butler, Alfred, played by Andy Serkis. “And Bruce says: ‘This is my family legacy. If I don’t do this, then there’s nothing else for me.’ I always read that as not like, ‘There’s nothing else,’ like, ‘I don’t have a purpose.’ But like: ‘I’m checking out,’” Pattinson shared. “And I think that makes it a lot sadder. Like, it’s a sad movie. It’s kind of about him trying to find some element of hope, in himself, and not just the city. Normally, Bruce never questions his own ability; he questions the city’s ability to change. But I mean, it’s kind of such an insane thing to do: The only way I can live is to dress up as a bat.”

The Batman is scheduled to premiere on March 1, 2022.