The Batman director and writer Matt Reeves has explained how Robert Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne was inspired by Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain.

Pattinson will be playing the infamous Dark Knight in the film, which is set to hit cinemas on March 4th, 2022. He will be starring alongside Zoë Kravitz, who will be playing Selina Kyle/Catwoman.

The first trailer of the movie features Nirvana’s ‘Something in the Way’, and a more recent promo featured an orchestral version of the same song. In an interview with Empire, the director said that the musical choice was deliberate.

“When I write, I listen to music,” he said, “and as I was writing the first act, I put on Nirvana’s ‘Something in the Way’ … 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 fictionalised version of Kurt Cobain in this kind of decaying manor.”

The 2005 movie Last Days explores the closing chapter of Cobain’s life, based loosely on the rock star. After witnessing Pattinson’s performance in the 2017 film Good Time, Reeves knew Pattinson would make the perfect Bruce Wayne: “In that movie you could really feel his vulnerability and desperation, but you could also feel his power. 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.”

A synopsis for The Batman reads: “Two years of stalking the streets as the Batman (Robert Pattinson), striking fear into the hearts of the criminals, has led Bruce Wayne deep into the shadows of Gotham City. With only a few trusted allies – Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis), Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) – amongst the city’s corrupt network of officials and high-profile figures, the lone vigilante has established himself as the sole embodiment of vengeance amongst his fellow citizens.”

The Batman is directed by Reeves from a screenplay by himself and Peter Craig. The film is scored by Oscar-winning Nichael Giacchino.

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