Nicholas Hoult found out he lost Batman role to Robert Pattinson in most savage way-Joel Harley-Entertainment – Metro

Nicholas Hoult was in the running to play Batman (Picture: Rex/Getty)

Nicholas Hoult has described the moment he found out he wouldn’t be playing Batman – losing out to Robert Pattinson before he’d even had a chance to audition.

The actor, 34, is no stranger to comic book worlds, having starred as Beast in the X-Men films, and soon to appear as villainous Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s upcoming Superman: Legacy.

At one point, he was in the running to wear the legendary cape, and was preparing to read for the titular role in Matt Reeves’ The Batman.

However, it ultimately wasn’t to be – and Twilight star Robert won the part of the Dark Knight, ushering in a new age of goth for the long-running comic book character.

The casting left Nicholas out in the cold, reeling from the ’emotional blow’ of being passed over for the role.

To add insult to injury, the About A Boy star found out that he’d been beaten to the punch in a very awkward way.

Nicholas auditioned to play Batman in the 2022 comic book film (Picture: Getty Images)

Nicholas lost out to Robert Pattinson (Picture: AP)

Speaking to Variety, he recalled: ‘I remember a week before we did the Batman test, I was driving in my car and I had the radio on and they were talking on the radio how Rob was going to be the new Batman.

‘And I was like, “It’s not confirmed yet! I’m auditioning next weekend. Give me a chance.”‘

The Skins favourite went on to talk about the emotional impact of losing out on the role in such a way.

‘Yeah, of course it’s an emotional blow. Your imagination does not know… You are aware on a practical level: I know I am auditioning against Rob,’ he continued.

Nicholas played the titular Renfield the following year (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

‘And Rob is fantastic in that movie. That was the right decision. But you get excited by the prospect. Matt is a fantastic director and the script. It’s a cool movie and I want to be a part of it. It’s a brilliant character.

‘There’s a weird period before you can get to the acceptance and see the movie and be like, that was the right choice, you go through the period of “what could I have done different? Why not me?” You run through all those things.’

The Batcave may have escaped Nicholas, but he’s spent the years since surrounded by bats and sinister rich men in capes, regardless.

After starring opposite Nicolas Cage in 2023’s comedy horror film Renfield, he will appear in the upcoming remake of the vampire horror film Nosferatu.

Nicholas will play Thomas Hutter in the Gothic horror film, appearing in a star-studded cast alongside Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Bill Skarsgård.

Robert starred opposite Colin Farrell’s Penguin (Picture: HBO)

As for Robert’s Batman, the film was a winner with both fans and the box office – even earning itself a sequel with this year’s Penguin.

Airing on HBO, the show follows Colin Farrell’s Oz Cobb – aka the Penguin – in the aftermath of The Batman’s events, and the Riddler’s attack on Gotham.

Colin revealed the immense effort it took to transform into Oz, which involved three hours each morning to turn into the Penguin, and around 40 minutes to take it all off at the end of each filming day.

Talking to FOX5 he said: ‘I felt like a canvas, I was in heaven. The three hours never dragged. Part of that was because we were playing 80s rock music and eating doughnuts, having good chats, and then I was able to drop in and hit the script for the last hour or two and just get my head ready for the day,’ he said.

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