Here’s the thing: 2 weeks ago, I wrote that Batman on film should be like Bond. I didn’t expect Robert Pattinson to take it quite this literally!
Per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, Pattinson screen-tested for James Bond the weekend of October 24, in London — where he’s filming THE BATMAN PART II right now. He’s one of the names in the mix alongside Callum Turner, Jack Lowden, and Josh O’Connor, with Nicholas Hoult — the guy who was the runner-up to Pattinson for Batman — now surfacing too. The Villeneuve connection is real: They just worked together on DUNE: PART THREE.
Let’s be clear about what this is, and what it isn’t. A screen test is not a casting. Amazon MGM has declined to comment. No frontrunner, no offer, nothing decided. He’s a contender, not the guy. Yet. (Frankly, I think he’s the best candidate for the role of those mentioned.)
But if he lands it? Honestly, him playing Bond and Batman is helpful to both franchises.
Every Bond headline becomes a Batman headline and vice versa. Amazon’s first Bond has to land, and he’d give them a proven franchise anchor on day one. And for Reeves’ SAGA, its star becoming 007 keeps Batman culturally front-and-center even between films.
And don’t tell me it can’t work — Harrison Ford was Han Solo and Indiana Jones at the same time is the best example. The one thing that’s never happened is a Bond doing it. Every 007 has been franchise-exclusive during his tenure. So, Pattinson pulling it off wouldn’t just be rare; it’d be a first for Bond specifically.
Schedule-wise, he can do both. PART II wraps filming very shortly and well before its February 2028 release. The Bond shoot is realistically 2027–28 at the earliest. A hypothetical PART III wouldn’t roll cameras until 2029 or so. Those windows don’t collide. The calendar isn’t the obstacle — the politics would be.
Now, the question that matters: Does testing for Bond mean he knows there will be no PART III?
It’s hard not to make that read. Bond isn’t a one-off; it’s a decade-long commitment. You don’t screen-test for that in the middle of filming PART II unless your calendar after this saga is either open… or you expect it to be.
The counterweight is his own words — he wants to “keep doing [playing Batman] for as long as I can.” That didn’t sound like a man planning his exit. But wanting to is not the same as being asked to. He can love the role and know WB’s plans don’t include a third one.
And if that is what’s going on here — if Pattinson is out looking for a franchise because he already knows his time as Batman ends with PART II — then that’s a damn shame. And the blame for it sits in one place: James Gunn’s jones for a DCU Batman. Not Reeves, who built something special. Not Pattinson, who showed up and delivered. Gunn had a Batman the audience already loved — and instead of leaving a great thing alone, he had to have one of his own.
The bottom line here is this: the decision on THE BATMAN PART III won’t be made by Gunn, Peter Safran, and DC Studios. It’ll be made by the audience. If PART II is a huge hit, there’s no way in Hades Skydance won’t want the SAGA finished as a trilogy… which was the original plan, lest we forget.
Nothing’s proven. A test isn’t a contract, and Villeneuve in his corner may be all this is. I’m of the mind that if Villeneuve sought RP out and tested him for the role, it’s Pattinson’s if he wants it.
Two studios, one guy, and both brands get hotter. The only loser is the old rulebook.
Batman playing Bond, Bond playing Batman. Who would’ve ever thought it! – Bill “Jett” Ramey