‘Batman’ Producer Defends Robert Pattinson Casting & Asks Fans To “Trust The Filmmaker”

After months and months of speculation, earlier this year, we found out that Robert Pattinson has been cast as the lead character in the upcoming ‘Batman’ reboot film. And as you might expect in 2019 whenever big news like this is announced, people began furiously debating the idea of “the guy from ‘Twilight’” becoming the Dark Knight. But one of the film’s producers just wants everyone to relax a moment and trust in the decision.

‘Batman’ producer Michael Uslan recently spoke at Germany’s CCXP Cologne convention (via Comicbook.com) and discussed the addition of Pattinson to the cast of director Matt Reeves’ upcoming superhero film.

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“My position is this: trust the filmmaker and give the filmmaker, and the filmmaker’s vision, the benefit of the doubt. Then wait ’til you see the movie,” Uslan said.

“The star of the ‘Batman’ movies is Bruce Wayne. Batman is the star,” the producer said. “Batman is who everyone wants to see, along with the supervillains, so how does a filmmaker make the choice of which actor to cast? And I think the real key question for fans, and for all of us to focus on, is the filmmaker.”

He added, ““So we’ve seen the genius of Tim Burton, we have seen the genius of Christopher Nolan. The question becomes: is there a filmmaker who you see has a knowledge of a character, has an understanding of a character, a passion and a love for the character? Does that filmmaker have a vision for the character? And if so, does he or she, do you believe, know how to execute that vision? And if you can answer those questions successfully, then for me, my role is to become the world’s number one cheerleader. And you have to trust in your filmmakers.”

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Uslan goes on to talk about how casting controversies have been part of the ‘Batman’ films dating back to the hiring on Michael Keaton for the 1989 film. Every time there has been a big hire for the lead role, there has been controversy. Even when an actor turns in an Oscar-winning performance, such as Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight,” Uslan encouraged everyone to remember that at the time of the actor’s hiring, people were concerned about a “gay cowboy” playing the part (referencing Ledger’s role in “Brokeback Mountain”).

Of course, much of the debate around Pattinson’s casting seems to come from people in two camps — those who have only seen him in the ‘Twilight’ films and those who have watched his most recent, acclaimed indie work, such as in “Good Time.”

Either way, we’re still about two years away from Reeves’ ‘Batman’ film hitting theaters on June 25, 2021.