After Ben Affleck had a short stint as Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, and Justice League, the actor hung up the cape and cowl for good, leaving Matt Reeves to look for another person to play the Dark Knight in the next standalone film, The Batman.

Now there are some conflicting reports on who might be up for the role. One report is saying that Twilight, Cosmopolis, and Maps to the Stars actor Robert Pattinson is in negotiations to become the new Batman in the superhero detective noir film, while another report says that Pattinson is on the shortlist alongside Mad Max: Fury Road actor Nicholas Hoult. More on this below.

Variety exclusively reported that Pattinson was in talks to play Batman. While the deal isn’t done, this would certainly be big news for The Batman, which has been in development for the past few years.

During that time, there had been conflicting reports about whether or not Affleck would stay on or not. He was actually set to star in and write and direct the film at one point. However, the grueling shooting schedule, along with his personal life, was taking a toll on the actor.

Eventually he would retire as the Batman, which leads us to where we are now. With Reeves writing and directing, and also producing with his Planet of the Apes collaborator Dylan Clark.

On the other side of things, a report from Deadline says that Hoult is also on that shortlist of actors to play Batman. This wouldn’t be the first time that Hoult has appeared in a major superhero franchise. The actor has played Hank McCoy aka Beast in the soft reboot of the X-Men film franchise.

Pre-production on The Batman is set to begin mid-summer. In previous reports, Reeves has stated that the film would be “very much a point of view-driven, noir Batman tale” and that it would see “Batman in his detective mode.” The director says he wants to focus on the “world’s greatest detective” aspect of the character, something of which hasn’t been utilized fully in previous films. He adds that the film will have a rogues’ gallery and that the casting of these rogues would begin soon.

This news follows up on the rumor that the film could be somewhat similar to the 13-issue limited comic series Batman: The Long Halloween from writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale, which saw Batman’s greatest villains teaming up to take on the Gotham vigilante.

Pattinson is said to be Reeves’ top choice to play the Batman. The actor is 33, while Hoult is 29. So it looks like WB is targeting a younger actor who could possibly play Batman for a great deal of time.

If Hoult is the one who ends up being cast, it could make him the youngest to play Bruce Wayne/Batman on film depending on when filming actually starts. Sources say that WB is giving Reeves the time he needs in order to polish the script, and adds that production on the film could begin as early as late 2019 or early 2020.

The previous youngest cinematic Batman was Christian Bale, who was 30 when filming began on his first appearance as the character, Batman Begins. Hoult will turn 30 in December.

WB has scheduled the tentatively titled The Batman for a June 25, 2021 release.

[Source: Variety | Deadline]