‘Batman’ director says Robert Pattinson ‘can’t not wear’ emo eyeliner

nypost.com:

Panic at the Batcave? When the first trailer for Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” dropped in August 2020, DC fans went wild over Robert Pattinson’s black eyeliner, which they dubbed deliciously “emo.” Now, more than a year on, the director has finally addressed the caped crusader’s makeup in an interview with Esquire. “You can’t wear a cowl and not wear that,” the 55-year-old “Cloverfield” director argued of Batman’s “Spiderman 3”-esque countenance. “All of the Batmen wear that.”Reeves was likely referencing the prior film iterations of the Dark Knight, who sports black makeup encircling his eyes to prevent a ring of pale skin from appearing inside the eye holes of the cowl.

This eyeliner would then “magically” disappear when they removed the mask.And while his argument might seem a tad meta, Reeves said he “loved the idea of taking off [the mask] and under that there’s the sweating and the dripping and the whole theatricality of becoming this character.”In fact, the filmmaker said that “The Batman” as a whole was inspired by none other than the late god of grunge, Kurt Cobain. “When I write, I listen to music, and as I was writing the first act, I put on Nirvana’s ‘Something in the Way,’” said Reeves. “That’s when it came to me that, rather than make Bruce Wayne the playboy version we’ve seen before, there’s another version who had gone through a great tragedy and become a recluse.”Many Bat-fans found the angsty appearance quite apt, claiming that the Dark Knight is the ultimate “emo” superhero given his tragic orphan backstory and generally dark outlook on life.