Robert Pattinson is the sixth actor to star as the Dark Knight on the big screen (eighth if you count animated features) since Michael Keaton put on the cowl in Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman" and launched the Caped Crusader's modern film franchise.
But, as that "The" in the title suggests, with "The Batman" director Matt Reeves wanted to wipe the slate clean of all that history — not to mention the character's endless iterations on TV and in comics and video games — and start fresh. Or at least as fresh as one can start with a superhero who made his debut in 1939.
"This character is over 80 years old, and people have a version in their head of what it must be," Reeves told the Los Angeles Times in a recent interview. "There are going to be people who are going to see this movie who will see Batman for the first time — and Rob will forever be their Batman."
