Robert Pattinson explains the unlikely 'Batman Begins' connection in his 'The Batman' voice

After a series of unfortunate pandemic delays, we're now less than a month away from the much-anticipated release of The Batman, Matt Reeves' new take on the Dark Knight starring Robert Pattinson in the title role. Because of all those delays, it feels like we've been talking about the movie for years at this point, but for Pattinson, it's all only just come to fruition. 

The actor stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! Wednesday night to talk all things Batman, and revealed that he'd only seen the final film just three days earlier, watching it alongside his director, Reeves, and his girlfriend Suki Waterhouse. For Pattinson, who noted he's been "terrified" about The Batman's release, it was Waterhouse who ultimately put him at ease during the screening, holding his hand up to her face during the film so he could feel a tear rolling down her cheek. 

From there, things shifted to talk of the audition process (he wore George Clooney's cowl over Val Kilmer's suit for his screen test), and Pattinson debuted a new clip from the film in which Batman and Jim Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) have a fake standoff while discussing crooked cops in Gotham City.

After the clip, which heavily showcases Pattinson's chosen voice for Batman, Kimmel asked the star how long it took him to figure out the voice. According to Pattinson, it was a process that included a two-week long false start.

"I wanted to do a radically different thing to all the other Batmen," Pattinson explained, "and had started in a kind of... I just thought, because everyone does this kind of gruff, gravelly thing, I'm like 'I'm gonna do the opposite, I'm gonna go really whispery.' And I tried to do it for the first like two weeks, and it just looked absolutely atrocious, and they told me to stop doing it."

As Pattinson started to alter his voice again after the whispery thing didn't work, his costumer on the set revealed that he actually shared an unexpected connection with fellow Batman Christian Bale, who tried out the same whisper technique on Batman Begins. 

"I found out from Nick, who was putting me in the suit every day, that's what Christian Bale did on Batman Begins as well," Pattinson said. "And if you listen to the first Batman Begins teaser trailer, you can hear the original voice. I only found this out a couple of weeks ago. It's kind of interesting."

So, how did Pattinson eventually move on from whispering? Pure Batman instinct.

"You can feel when it feels right," he told Kimmel. "There's something... You put the suit on, and you have to speak in a certain way."

The Batman is in theaters March 4.