Robert Pattinson is the latest actor tackling the popular role of Batman in the 2022 film, The Batman. Granting interviews, Pattinson shared some of his excitement for getting his chance to portray the man behind the mask.
But despite his enthusiasm for finally landing what may be his dream role, a few setbacks occurred during production. Pattinson broke his wrist during a stunt on the set. Discover how this impacted filming, and another time the Twilight actor sustained an on-set injury.
Robert Pattinson broke his wrist filming ‘The Batman’
In a 2022 interview with GQ, Robert Pattinson talked about shooting The Batman. Production started at the end of 2019, and that’s when his injury occurred. He told the publication he was performing a stunt when he broke his wrist.
“The whole first section,” (referring to the first few shooting sequences), “was trying to keep working it out – looking like a penguin.” During those early takes, he “remembered thinking it seemed like the worst thing that could go wrong.”
What Pattinson didn’t see coming was a public health catastrophe — the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit soon after. It worked all worked out for Pattinson’s injury — his wrist got the healing time he needed when production shut down. But even upon restarting again in 2020, September brought another shooting pause when the actor himself tested positive.
Did a broken wrist affect his portrayal of the Caped Crusader?
Despite a broken wrist early on and the onset of the pandemic, nothing could keep Pattinson from transforming Bruce Wayne into a new character. The Batman production was ultimately delayed almost 18 months but eventually got back on track. And Pattinson rocked the role to the hilt, according to director Matt Reeves. “He’s a chameleon,” Reeves said, citing Pattinson’s unique voice as “one of his ways in.”
Pattinson shared other sentiments about his time on set as the Caped Crusader. It wasn’t the pandemic or a broken wrist that “got” to him, either. It was the isolation.
He says it was like being in “a bubble within a bubble,” referring to the nature of the shoot itself, routinely in darkness and being in the suit all the time. Pattinson said he wasn’t allowed out of the studio with the costume on, forcing him to get weirdly creative with passing his alone time.
Is this the first time Pattinson hurt himself on set?
Robert Pattinson made a name for himself before his latest role in The Batman. Hailing as the brooding, hunky vamp in the Twilight movies, Pattinson earned fame and attention as Edward Cullen. As it turns out, he hurt himself on that set, too.
“We were doing the fight scene at the end of the first [Twilight movie], and I tore my glute — well, almost tore it, basically in my second shot of the whole movie, of the whole series,” he told MTV News in 2012.
The Batman experienced release date setbacks along the way. But fans can officially see Pattinson as Gotham’s hero in theaters on March 4, 2022. And considering how excited the actor was to play this iconic DC character, there’s no on-set injury keeping him from a legendary portrayal.
