When Nolan took up the task of finding the perfect caped-crusader for Gotham, there were a few known faces other than Christian Bale on the list. Among other actors in the running for playing Nolan’s Batman, Henry Cavill too had made the mark. Keep reading to know how that played out!
Robert Pattinson had recently landed the role for playing Batman in the upcoming Matt Reeves film. Prior to this project, Robert Pattinson was working with Christopher Nolan for his last film, ‘Tenet’. As per reports, however, the actor was quite secretive around Nolan about landing the Batman role in Matt Reeves’ film. That being said, when Nolan set out to win over Gotham city, he had a few people in mind for the role of Batman besides Christian Bale and that included Henry Cavill.
Highlights —
- Henry Cavill was on Nolan’s list to play Batman
- Henry Cavill had lost roles to Robert Pattinson
- Robert Pattinson was secretive about his Batman role around Nolan
Henry Cavill was on Nolan’s list to play Batman
Cavill is well-known for his role as Superman. However, the actor had to go past a few obstacles before he could be the “Man of Steel”. Apparently, Henry Cavill was considered for the role of Batman in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Batman Trilogy’.
The actor had confirmed the news in 2009 while speaking about the missed chance in an interview at ‘Good Day, New York’. However, he made sure to put aside all speculations and said that while he was shortlisted among many, many other actors for the role of Batman, he never really got around to auditioning or screen testing for it.
That being said, many other actors besides Henry Cavill were shortlisted for the role of Nolan’s Batman. The biggest surprise among it all was that Heath Ledger had met with the director to discuss playing the role of Batman. Nevertheless, Ledger eventually took out his name from the running because he did not consider himself a fan of the comic universe. Nolan, on the other hand, was highly impressed by Ledger’s audition and called him back to play the role of The Joker in the sequel to ‘Batman Begins’.

Henry Cavill had lost roles to Robert Pattinson
There’s one thing common between Henry Cavill and Robert Pattinson – both are now a part of the DC universe. Robert Pattinson is up for playing Batman in the new Matt Reeves film, ‘The Batman’. Funnily enough, Henry Cavill, the actor who was once considered for the role of Batman in the greatest Batman movie ever made, had lost two major roles to Pattinson.
The roles that Cavill had lost to Pattinson were also the roles that had actually gave Pattinson his big break in Hollywood. As per reports, Henry Cavill had auditioned for the role of Cedric Diggory in ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’. Not just that, Stephenie Meyer believed the Henry Cavill would be the perfect Edward to Bella in the ‘Twilight’ film franchise.
Nonetheless, neither Meyer nor the ‘Twilight’ producers made any effort to get Cavill on board to play the role of Edward Cullen and the job went to Robert Pattinson. Also, playing Cedric Diggory on ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ would not have been a great fit for Henry Cavill since the character requirement was an essentially younger face than what Cavill could have offered.
Robert Pattinson was secretive about his Batman role around Nolan
The new Batman star, Robert Pattinson had been a part of Christopher Nolan’s last film ‘Tenet’. Christopher Nolan is undoubtedly the biggest name when it comes to contemporary discussions on Hollywood and the Batman movies. Naturally, it came as surprise when Pattinson admitted that he was extremely secretive about his Batman role around Nolan when he could have taken a few tips from the master himself. Pattinson said,
“And then I had to be really secretive about Batman stuff. So I had to lie to Chris about having to go for a screen test – I said I had a family emergency. And as soon as I said ‘it’s a family emergency’ he said: ‘You’re doing the Batman audition, aren’t you?’”
Christopher Nolan, the director who has given Hollywood its biggest Batman film up until now, had also revealed Pattinson’s hesitance in discussing all the Batman stuff. He said,
“He certainly did not ask me for any advice. We kept a respectful silence around the issue until very near the end of the shoot. We said a couple of things and made a couple of jokes. We did have a little bit of a conversation about the various aspects of what he was going to be putting himself through. But I was thrilled that he was cast, and I think he’ll do an amazing job. I’m really excited to see what he does with that character.”
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