Robert Pattinson’s agents were surprised when he wanted to pursue playing Batman.

Speaking to Total Film, the 35-year-old actor discussed his upcoming role in the superhero blockbuster, a significantly different project to the indie films he has worked on since the Twilight franchise concluded.

“I was aiming for quite different stuff. Obviously, it’s basically the jewel in the crown of the parts you can really get as an actor. But I’d never really thought I was anywhere close to doing it, and especially with the other parts I was attracted to at the time,” Pattinson said of his decision to play the iconic superhero.

The Good Time star said that he kept “obsessively” checking in on the role for a year, which confused his agents, adding, “Even my agents were like, ‘Oh interesting, I thought you only wanted to play total freaks?’ And I was like, ‘He is a freak!'”

Pattinson received backlash for his casting when he was announced as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and director Matt Reeves recently insisted to Esquire magazine that the furore is a tradition with any new Batman actor.

“There has been no actor, when his announcement that he was going to be playing Batman in one of the feature films was announced, that has not received a backlash,” he told the publication. “The people who were excited, I knew it was because they knew Rob’s work post-Twilight. The people who weren’t excited, I knew it was because they didn’t know Rob’s work post-Twilight.”

The Batman hits cinemas on 4 March.

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