Robert Pattinson teases 'The Batman' as 'a totally different pace' from past 'Batman' films

Within the cover story written by Daniel Riley, Pattinson teased what fans can expect from his take on Bruce Wayne once "The Batman" is unleashed March 4.

"I watched a rough cut of the movie by myself, and the first shot is so jarring from any other Batman movie that it’s just kind of a totally different pace," the 35-year-old actor said. "It was what [director] Matt [Reeves] was saying from the first meeting I had with him: ‘I want to do a ’70s noir detective story, like The Conversation.’ And I kind of assumed that meant the mood board or something, the look of it. But from the first shot, it’s, Oh, this actually is a detective story. And I feel like an idiot, because I didn’t even know that Batman was ‘the world’s greatest detective.'"

The former "Twilight" heartthrob also described his entry point to the iconic character.

"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. 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 s—t 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—f------g beats everybody up! The guy has no idea that Batman’s come to save him. It just looks like this werewolf. 

"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. 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."

The Batman also stars Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, and she has previously gushed over Pattinson as "incredible" in the film. ("His transformation was out of this world.") The star-studded cast is rounded out by the likes of Colin Farrell, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano and more.

See more from Pattinson with GQ below.