Robert Pattinson, like most actors who are members of the striking SAG-AFTRA union, has clocked out in the name of solidarity. Filming schedules have been wiped. Pattinson should be in the middle of shooting the second (3.2?) Batman film. But instead, he's riding about New York City on a Brompton foldable like any other normal guy—but he's still looking a bit Bruce Wayne.
Not the hedge-funds-and-dinner-gala Bruce Wayne, but Pattinson's younger, odder, sadder version of Bruce Wayne—Bruce Wayne on a post-workout cycle home. In all black gymwear (brands like Under Armour enjoy as much popularity outside of the gym as inside it), a backwards baseball cap, and some hipster-dad wraparounds, it's Emo Fitness Batman—a billionaire tycoon that's as jacked as he is glum.
Which is a vibe! And although the IRL Batman crossover is accidental, it's also got cachet beyond Gotham. Echoing the health goth wave of 2014, and as a result of us all looking at Instagram and seeing hencher, fitter people with every single scroll, fitnesswear has become a fashion thing all in itself. For Very Famous People, that means big fits on the brisk walk from an overpriced PT session to an overpriced car. Harry Styles and Olivia Wilde know this gauntlet all too well; now, so does Pattinson (and with him, Bruce Wayne).
Rob's On Running sneaks also point to a hi-spec workout (the brand's flagship UK store feels less like a shop and more a MoMA exhibition), while the Oakley Flags—sorta batwing-shaped, kinda sick—are equipped with features such as no-slip nose pads and glare reduction lenses. But the only thing decidedly un-Batman? An Independent Truck Company Clothing T-shirt. Skateboards are not very Bruce Wayne at all.
But everything else is. And despite Batman's postponement, Bruce Wayne is seemingly alive and well—and in a very big fit.
This story originally ran on British GQ with the title “Off-duty Robert Pattinson looks a lot like off-duty Batman”