Contents
Summary
- Robert Pattinson’s Batman is the first in 57 years not to kill someone directly or indirectly, breaking a longstanding tradition in Batman movies.
- Previous actors who played Batman, such as Michael Keaton and Christian Bale, have all killed villains in their respective films.
- While Pattinson’s Batman has not killed anyone yet, there is a possibility that he may do so in the future, depending on the circumstances and his own self-control.
Robert Pattinson’s Batman broke a long-running Dark Knight movie tradition. Pattinson and Nicholas Hoult — who was reportedly one of the three top candidates for the Superman role in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy recently — screen tested for Batman in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, with the former Twilight star coming out on top and leading DC’s latest Batman solo movie. While Ben Affleck’s DCEU version of Batman will soon be recast for The Brave and the Bold movie, which will take place in Gunn’s new DC Universe, with Bruce Wayne meeting and bonding with his son Damian, Pattinson’s version of the character will exist untouched by DC’s shared universe shakeups.
When Gunn announced part of the DC Universe’s slate in January, the DC Studios co-CEO revealed that a separate line of projects set outside the DC Universe would exist, with Reeves’ The Batman universe continuing under this Elseworlds label. Pattinson was severely judged by many when he was first cast as Batman, as some thought the star’s past in the Twilight franchise made him a poor choice for Batman. With the release of The Batman, Pattinson showed his doubters wrong, as the actor delivered a gripping performance as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. His version of the hero also broke a 57-year-old Batman tradition.
Pattinson’s Batman Is The First Not To Kill Someone
Pattinson’s Batman is the first not to kill someone either directly or indirectly since the character first appeared in a movie 57 years ago, with Adam West’s original full-length theatrical adaptation, 1966’s Batman: The Movie. Pattinson’s Batman not killing breaks the long-running tradition of the character killing villains over the years in movies, which is interesting, as Batman is notorious for having a no-kill rule in the comics. Reeves wanted to adapt that trait in The Batman, with Pattinson explaining Batman’s reason for not killing, saying, “It can be interpreted in two ways. Either he only wants to inflict the appropriate punishment, or he wants to kill and his self-control prevents him from doing so.”
Who Every Previous Movie Batman Has Killed
While Pattinson’s Batman doesn’t kill, the same can’t be said about the rest of the actors that played Batman in live-action movies. In 1966’s Batman: The Movie, West’s Batman kills multiple Penguin thugs by punching them and disintegrating the henchmen into anti-matter. That happened due to the Penguin having rehydrated the thugs — who were snuck into the Batcave as dust — with toxic heavy water. West’s Batman also kills the Joker in a canonical comic, “Batman ‘66 meets Wonder Woman ‘77.” This story sees Joker infiltrates Wayne Manor after discovering Bruce Wayne’s identity. Alfred gets a heart attack from the shock of seeing the villain, and Batman proceeds to kill the Joker.
Michael Keaton’s Batman kills quite a few people over two movies. Most notably, Keaton’s Batman kills Jack Nicholson’s Joker at the end of 1989’s Batman and causes Penguin to fall to his death in 1992’s Batman Returns. Val Kilmer’s Batman continues Keaton’s trend of making a villain fall to his death. In 1995’s Batman Forever, Kilmer’s Batman throws several silver coins into the air, making Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face fall from an iron beam to his death while searching for his original coin. While George Clooney doesn’t kill anybody in 1997’s Batman & Robin, his version of the character is canonically the same as Keaton’s and Kilmer’s, who kill.
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy mentioned quite a few times that Christian Bale’s Batman didn’t kill. However, the hero made some choices that might as well have killed multiple characters. In Batman Begins, Bruce blows up the League of Shadow’s HQ, likely resulting in several deaths. He then has the climatic “I’m not going to kill you, but I won’t save you” scene with Liam Neeson’s R’as al Ghul, leaving the villain to die in a monorail explosion. Batman also tackles Two-Face off a building, causing him to die in The Dark Knight and more. In the DCEU, Ben Affleck’s Batman also killed several people, both directly and indirectly.
Why Pattinson’s Batman Record May Not Stand
While Pattinson is the only movie Batman that has yet to kill, he may do so in the future, as the character has only appeared in one movie so far. As Pattinson said, Batman’s no-kill rule might come from a place of his self-control stopping him even when he wants to. The Batman 2 could see Bruce embrace the more hopeful version of himself from the end of The Batman; however, now that he has more ties to the people of Gotham City, Batman could potentially snap if a villain such as Barry Keoghan’s Joker were to use those things against him, making Pattinson’s Batman kill for the first time.