Robert Pattinson is my favorite person to see on a press tour. After starting his career in a pair of blockbuster franchises, he’s spent much of the last several years churning out wild and mesmerizing performances in art-house films. With a bigger budget film tossed in here and there for good measure. So it’s all the more baffling to pretty much everyone that the actor is the latest person to step into Bruce Wayne’s moody shoes. But as the star of The Batman, this means Pattinson’s been pounding the pavement on the promotion circuit. And, quite frankly, that is a gift. During a stopover to Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Pattinson brought a whole bunch of anecdotes, including one about a former co-star turned Marvel superhero, Tom Holland.
Specifically, the very unverifiable claims that he, Robert Pattinson, personally watched Tom Holland manifest getting cast as Spider-Man. (This iconic bit of storytelling occurs around the 13-minute mark.)
Pattinson claimed that while filming The Lost City of Z, he witnessed Holland in a full Spider-Man costume. He added that nobody else witnessed the moment. Which is to say, don’t ask Charlie Hunnam because he doesn’t know. Here’s the thing: Aside from the knowledge that Robert Pattinson famously loves to just say whatever comes to mind on press tours—which I respect!—the facts just don’t add up on this one. Interestingly, Pattinson admitted he has no idea what he’s ever saying on talk shows. Even more, interestingly, he says this seconds before launching into his Tom Holland manifestation story.
According to my internet sleuthing, The Lost City of Z didn’t film in Colombia until September 2015. However, Marvel quite famously cast Holland in June 2015. Plus, Captain America: Civil War wrapped principal photography in August 2015, right before Lost City of Z started. So maybe Holland was rocking a full Spider-Man suit in Colombia, per Pattinson’s recollection. But was it reminiscing on a good time or just research for Spider-Man: Homecoming? Of course, Pattinson only claimed he was “99% certain” this happened. So that 1% does a lot of heavy lifting.
(Full Disclosure: Dakota Johnson never accused Robert Pattinson of not telling the truth. In reality, she very famously said, “Actually, no. That’s not the truth, Ellen,” after the talk show host accused Johnson of not being invited to her birthday party. Batman and Dakota Johnson: Defenders of Justice. Maybe Tom Holland can join Robert Pattinson and Dakota Johnson and they can make a superhero team of their own.)
Pattinson didn’t just bring his legendary talk show antics. He also delivered an exciting new clip from the series, which debuts around the 7:30 mark. The clip features an uneasy conversation between Batman and Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) about dirty cops. It culminates in Batman punching Gordon and zipping through the police headquarters with a horde of cops on his tail. So suffice to say, their alliance’s early days are certainly looking a little tough.
Hopefully, The Batman irons out some of the wrinkles in their famous partnership for future installments. Pattinson and director Matt Reeves are already teeing them up, and if it means more RPatz press tours, please sign us up.
The Batman lands in theaters on March 4.