Robert Pattinson explains how his Batman might differ from previous versions

Robert Pattinson says he hasn’t maintained his Batman training regime while shooting on the film has paused due to the coronavirus pandemic saying: “I think if you’re working out all the time, you’re part of the problem.”

He has, however, found time to take part in a GQ profile from lockdown in London while production on Matt Reeves’ The Batman remains on hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic.

When asked why he wanted to take on the role previously inhabited by Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Michael Keaton et al, Pattinson responds: “What are the reasons not to do it?”

He adds that finding a new angle on DC’s Dark Knight also interested him in taking on the part.

Read more: The Batman to have ‘humanist bent’

“I kind of like the fact that not only are there very, very, very well-done versions of the character which seem pretty definitive, but I was thinking that there are multiple definitive playings of the character,” he says.

“It’s fun when more and more ground has been covered. Like, where is the gap? You’ve seen this sort of lighter version, you’ve seen a kind of jaded version, a kind of more animalistic version.

“And the puzzle of it becomes quite satisfying, to think: Where’s my opening? And also, do I have anything inside me which would work if I could do it?”

Reeves previously described his new take as a Hitchcockian, “noir-driven, detective version of Batman”.

Talking about his role in the film, the 33-year-old actor says the weight of expectation around the superhero reboot has made him “a little kind of spicy”.

“There’s so few things in life where people passionately care about it before it’s even happened,” Pattinson tells GQ.

“You can almost feel that pushback of anticipation, and so it kind of energises you a little bit. It’s different from when you’re doing a part and there’s a possibility that no one will even see it. Right? In some ways it’s, I don’t know… It makes you a little kind of spicy.”

Andy Serkis, who plays Alfred Pennyworth to Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne, recently said the film was going to be darker than previous films.

"I would say that's not far from the truth,” Serkis told LabBible, before going on to explain how the film is “very much about the emotional connection between Alfred and Bruce. That's really at the centre of it. And it is a really exquisite script that Matt [Reeves] has written."

It also stars Colin Farrell as Penguin, Paul Dano as Riddler, Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman and Jeffrey Wright as James Gordon.

The Batman was originally expected to debut 25 June, 2021, and will now launch on 1 October, 2021.