According to The Batman director Matt Reeves, Robert Pattinson's take on the Dark Knight shows just as much emotion under the cowl as he does without it.
"What happened was I wanted the arc to be Batman's, and I was like wow, there are a lot of ... which, by the way, you don't generally have a lot of long dialogue scenes in these Batman movies with Batman in the cowl, wearing the cape, and in emotional scenes, the scenes of seeing him rocked, half of his face is covered," Reeves explained during a press event attended by CBR.
As The Batman focuses on the Caped Crusader, it was important that Batman's emotions be visible, even under the mask. "Now, it was the intention. Of course, the point was to make his emotions be visible through the cowl," Reeves continued. "We had no idea how hard it was going to be. I mean, there were times when I would come to Rob and go, 'Okay, great. I just need to feel a little more.' He'd be like, 'More? What?' Yeah, he was about to burst a vein."
Although Pattinson might have questioned what "more" meant, Reeves credits him with delivering an emotional performance as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. "It was one of these things, I have to say, it's a true testament to Rob as a performer," Reeves said. "He's so technical as well as incredibly emotional. I would watch Rob get himself into that state where he would be getting really raw before we would shoot, and then I would be saying like, 'I think I need to see a little bit more through the cowl,' I would just be doing that. It was definitely by design, and it was a huge challenge. Thank God I had Rob to work with."
Pattinson has previously stated that filming on The Batman could be both challenging and isolating. The actor was unable to leave the studio with the suit on, and the design of the cowl made even reading a book difficult. "The nature of the shoot was so kind of insular, always shooting at night, just really dark all the time, and I felt very much alone," he said.
Andy Serkis, who plays Bruce's butler/father figure Alfred Pennyworth in the film, has praised Pattinson's performance, comparing the dichotomy of Bruce Wayne and Batman to the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. "I think Rob's amazing as Bruce -- and as Batman," Serkis said.
The Batman arrives in theaters on March 4.