If, while watching the seminal 2008 film Twilight – or any of its sequels, for that matter – you have ever wondered, Yeah, but what if Robert Pattinson could brood from beneath a billionaire's approximation of superhero garb? then you are in luck: The actor is officially set to play the next iteration of Batman.

On May 31, Variety confirmed with Warner Bros. that Pattinson will star in The Batman, a standalone movie in need of a titular vigilante given that Ben Affleck bowed out of the project in January. (He said a month later that he just couldn't "crack" the script.). He's not the first actor connected to a switch-up in Wayne Manor, either; in October 2018, rumors circulated that To All The Boys I've Loved Before star Noah Centineo could be connected to the project in some way.

There's no word yet on what The Batman's plot will entail, or if the film will work in cohort with the other films currently orbiting the DC universe. In those movies, Affleck's Bruce Wayne was a graying and jaded super-veteran who was deeply considering parking the Batmobile for good; given Pattinson is 33 to Affleck's 46, such a midlife crisis may not work in the same way. Can Batman experience burnout from simply logging too many hours? Time will tell.

Word that Pattinson was "in talks" for the role first hit the internet on May 17; Warner Bros. has not indicated if any actors have been solidified to play other roles. It's also a steep departure from Pattinson's recent work, which includes films like Good Time and The Lighthouse, a black-and-white project that just won big at the Cannes Film Festival.

All we know for now is that The Batman is slated to hit theaters in 2021. Director Matt Reeves has a propensity for darkly lit and highly suspenseful movies (Cloverfield, and both Dawn of Planet of the Apes and War of Planet of the Apes), so we'll probably see more of the same treatment for this blockbuster. Until then, it's up to fans to decide if they prefer Battinson or PatMan as the actor's new nickname.