Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne was inspired by Kurt Cobain
-Maybe The Batman smells like teen spirit?
What do The Batman and late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain have in common? Well, that’s a question that director Matt Reeves couldn’t wait to dig into with Robert Pattinson for the latest big-screen take on the Caped Crusader.
When Reeves was conceptualizing and writing The Batman, he had a different idea of what the DC Comics’ Bruce Wayne character was like following the tragic death of his parents. Rather than become the playboy fans are familiar with, Reeves went the opposite way and made him more of a loner. And it was all inspired by Cobain.
“When I write, I listen to music, and as I was writing the first act, I put on Nirvana’s ‘Something In The Way’,” Reeves tells Empire. “That’s when it came to me that, rather than make Bruce Wayne the playboy version we’ve seen before, there’s another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse. So I started making this connection to Gus Van Sant’s Last Days, and the idea of this fictionalized version of Kurt Cobain being in this kind of decaying manor.”
As it turns out, that’s also when Reeves knew Pattinson was the man for the job. According to the article, the director had been a fan of the star’s performance in the Safdie Brothers' 2017 film Good Time, in which he played a character fighting through New York City’s underworld in order to get his brother out of jail.
“In that movie, you could really feel his vulnerability and desperation, but you could also feel his power,” Reeves adds. “I thought that was a great mix. He’s also got that Kurt Cobain thing, where he looks like a rock star, but you also feel like he could be a recluse.”
So if you were wondering why Nirvana’s “Something In The Way” was featured on the very first The Batman trailer back when it hit the internet in August 2020, now you have your answer.
Cobain was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Seattle home back in April 1994. At the time of his death, the musician was considered one of the greatest grunge artists on the scene, but privately he battled mental health and addiction issues. He was also a notorious recluse.
- The Nirvana singer didn’t just inspire Reeves to switch up the Bruce Wayne character. The director also veered in another direction when it came to the tools and technology that Batman uses in the film—and that includes his suit. “Bruce has been hiding away,” Pattinson tells the publication. “He’s not really a socialite at all. He’s building all these little contraptions and things, just with Alfred. And even Alfred thinks he’s gone insane!”
As for the Batsuit itself, it debuts with a little more wear-and-tear than fans are used to, for the simple reason that when we meet the character he’s already been around the block.
“He’s been out every single night for two years, getting beaten up and shot and stabbed and burnt, and it shows,” Pattinson adds. “There’s a bullet graze on the cowl, right at the beginning. I don’t think that’s been done before.”
Guess we’ll all find out for sure when The Batman hits theatres on March 4. For now, the anticipation is palpable, what with Zoë Kravitz’s take on Catwoman to look forward to, Colin Farrell getting a spinoff TV show at HBO Max for his take on Penguin, and the internet already calling for Kristen Stewart to play the Joker in a potential sequel.
Oh, and let’s not forget that bizarre, peak quarantine interview that Pattinson gave back in May 2020 for GQ, in which he made “fast-food pasta,” by putting aluminum foil into a microwave and nearly blowing himself up.
In other words, this movie has been a long time coming and getting more info to put the pieces together before we get to see it ourselves is always a good thing.(by https://www.etalk.ca/).-
