Imagining “The Batman” with Robert Pattinson as Terry McGinnis

Comic book characters are eternal, living forever on the page while constantly changing faces on the silver screen. To Hollywood actors, parts like Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, and Bruce Wayne are like Hamlet, roles that a number of performers will have a chance to interpret and make their own. But after decades of Batman films, television, and video games, I believe that Bruce Wayne is no longer a difficult role to play.

It wasn’t particularly surprising to see a fan backlash to the casting of Robert Pattinson as Gotham City’s most famous billionaire for the upcoming 2021 film—all superhero film castings go under a degree of scrutiny. While I do believe that Pattinson will carry the role well, there wasn’t a single dream casting that could have excited me. Practically any prolific white male actor willing to put on some muscle could play Bruce Wayne.

Audiences have seen so many interpretations of the character in live-action, and save for some variations, most of them are interchangeable. But I suspect that the main draw for The Batman (2021) will be Pattinson’s youth and the opportunity to play a younger and scrappier Bruce Wayne as opposed to the older, disillusioned, and world-weary Ben Affleck version. If that is the case, let me propose something that likely never passed the minds of any Warner Bros. film executives: why couldn’t Robert Pattinson just play Terry McGinnis?

At this point in time, film audiences have seen three Peter Parkers, three Bruce Banners, and at least six Bruce Waynes. Much like James Bond or the Doctor in Doctor Who, these legacy characters have continued to swap faces to extend their longevity in popular culture, because the idea that these characters can be sidelined or replaced is simply absurd to film studios. But for as many problems I have with Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, their recent efforts have gone against this grain.

In Avengers: Endgame, Tony Stark was killed off, and this multimedia universe will continue without the character of Iron Man and the box office draw of Robert Downey Jr. More relevant was the fate of Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers, who retired and passed on his title to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie). Much like in the comics, superhero legacies are passed on to different people, still extending the longevity of the hero while having the identity embodied by someone else entirely for new storytelling potential. 

And that was the entire premise of the original Batman Beyond animated show, which introduced Terry McGinnis to the larger DC canon. An aging Bruce Wayne ended his career as Batman in dramatic fashion, and decades later, a young troublemaker by the name of Terry McGinnis would have a run-in with an elderly Wayne. In terms of pure personality and behavior, Terry and Bruce provided an interesting contrast. While both shared a sense of justice, Terry was scrappy, streetsmart, and sharp, while Bruce remained brooding and stoic.

Where the two Batmans diverge the most is their background—Bruce Wayne comes from privilege and was orphaned at a young age, while Terry McGinnis had a rougher upbringing, with divorced parents and stints in juvenile hall. Both have had their share of traumas, but their different circumstances have them confront those feelings and memories through different means—and audiences have probably seen enough of Bruce’s form of therapy.

The notion that Robert Pattinson is a talented and accomplished actor has been slowly permeating the mainstream in the past few years, but Pattinson has grown and evolved even just within the prestige era of his career. As a Fandor video essay recalls, Pattinson in his post-Twilight years worked with a number of prominent film directors that included James Gray, Werner Herzog, and David Cronenberg. While these smaller projects were better fits for Pattinson, these acting roles were still quite static, and for many filmgoers, it took until Good Time for the actor to show his range. 

When I think of Pattinson’s character in Good Time, my head instantly begins to draw parallels to Terry McGinnis. This film from the Safdie brothers creates a hypnotic yet gritty and authentic vision of Queens, with Pattinson’s character at the center. His character of Connie Nikas is a fast-talking, quick-thinking, small-time bank robber who holds a lot of love for his brother, while also in denial of his brother’s developmental challenges. He believes the lie he tells to himself that he’s a good person, while at the same time manipulating everyone around him. Connie can turn any situation to his own advantage, all while still failing to look inward. One could see Connie as Terry, but having lost his way and his sense of justice.

More recently was Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, a period surrealist horror that pitted Pattinson against Willem Dafoe. As a new lighthouse wickie named Ephraim Winslow, Pattinson crafts another layered character who hides a lot of darkness within. Winslow slowly demonstrates how much of an untrustworthy character he is, and his inner self begins to unravel. He is quick-tempered and antagonistic, ultimately giving into the madness that being stranded in the lighthouse produced. It may be Pattinson’s darkest role yet, one that could be seen as preparation for Batman—but perhaps more so an everyman Batman rather than a billionaire Batman.

For billionaire Pattinson, look no further than David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis. Pattinson portrays a loner billionaire who is driven around a limo during a mass riot. While his character shows some unstable tendencies, the film as a whole is mostly cold and detached. Which makes me wonder which Pattinson we’re getting in The Batman: the stoic Cosmopolis Pattinson, the lively Good Time Pattinson, the dark and self-centered Pattinson, or some odd blend of the three?

Whatever the case may be, it would be a shame if DC, Warner Bros., and writer-director Matt Reeves cast Robert Pattinson to play yet another brooding and distant rich white dude. Pattinson has had an exciting career in recent years, and to inherit a role that has been overplayed may be good for his portfolio and his bank account, but could be severely limiting for his ability unless the story reboots his character in a significant way, which fans wouldn’t take well.

While it’s obviously far too late for this project to take a creative about-face, I still fantasize about what could have been: a Batman film that fits the actor better. Imagine Pattinson as a sketchy but charismatic petty criminal, always getting away from nasty encounters and run-ins by the skin of his teeth. We could have a Batman that is more personable and open to communicating with others in Terry McGinnis, one who copes with his trauma in a different, possibly healthier manner.

And the legacy of Bruce Wayne would still be an important element and have its own character arc; if Hollywood could have managed it, maybe bring Michael Keaton in the role back as a tribute. DC could learn another lesson from a Marvel property through Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, with one of the larger throughlines being how young Miles Morales is able to inherit the daunting legacy of an older Peter Parker—and audiences were quite receptive to it.

Fan-casting may be an impractical exercise when all is said and done, but as Hollywood continues to reuse the same characters, filmmakers will have to figure out fresh ways to deliver old ideas other than just recastings. Until then, we’ll have to contend with watching Bruce Wayne’s parents getting murdered in that alley again.