Nicholas Hoult Heard on the Radio That Robert Pattinson Was Batman and ‘I Was Auditioning Next Weekend’; Losing Role Was an ‘Emotional Blow’

Nicholas Hoult revealed on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that he was driving in Los Angeles when he heard on the radio that Robert Pattinson was the top casting choice for the title role in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman.” It came as a shock to the actor, considering he was set to audition for Batman the next weekend. Hoult ultimately lost the role to Pattinson.

“Yeah of course it’s an emotional blow,” Hoult said about losing out on Batman. “Your imagination does not know…you are aware on a practical level: ‘I know I am auditioning against Rob.’ And Rob is fantastic in that movie. That was the right decision. But you get excited by the prospect. Matt [Reeves] 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.”

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Hoult said auditioning for a big comic book role is “a lot to put yourself through emotionally,” especially because now casting rumors and contenders get reported on in the trades in real time.

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

With Reeves behind the camera and Pattinson front and center, “The Batman” earned rave reviews and $770 million at the worldwide box office. Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman even named the superhero tentpole the third best movie of 2022. A sequel is set to go into production next year.

Hoult may have lost out on Batman, but he is getting the chance to act in a major comic book tentpole thanks to his role as Lex Luthor in James Gunn’s upcoming “Superman.” The actor originally auditioned for Superman before he and Gunn realized a better fit might be the iconic villain. Hoult credited Gunn for making the “Superman” audition process a smooth one.

“James Gunn is such a fantastic director and I was so excited by what he was building at DC,” Hoult said. “When we spoke…because they knew I had been through [the Batman] process, they didn’t want me to necessarily have to go through that again. That was very kind of them. There was an element of them being like, ‘We like you as an actor. We want you to be in this world.'”

Hoult previously told GQ España that Pattinson “did an amazing job” in “The Batman,” adding: “I don’t think I would have done as good a job as him ultimately. I don’t think I could have fit as well into the world that Matt created as Rob did.”

Watch Hoult’s full interview on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast in the video below.