Robert Pattinson Officially Enters His Villain Era In 2026

Robert Pattinson Officially Enters His Villain Era In 2026 Robert Pattinson pulls a face at a press conference By  Alex Harrison Published 24 minutes ago Alex is the Senior Movies Editor, managing the New Movies team, as well as one of ScreenRant's Rotten Tomatoes-approved critics. After graduating from Brown University with a B.A. in English, he spent a locked-down year in Scotland completing a Master's in Film Studies from the University of Edinburgh, which he hears is a nice, lively city. He now lives in and works from Milan, Italy, conveniently a short train ride from the Venice Film Festival, which he first covered for SR in 2024. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Robert Pattinson has had a fascinating career so far. After playing Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Edward in the Twilight films, he represented a certain kind of heartthrob hero to audiences, and he then spent the next several years undermining that image. He's played a wide variety of characters in independent films over the past decade and earned a reputation for committing to strange, often unsavory roles.

Notably, though, he isn't known for playing villains. He certainly has – his odious reverend in The Devil All the Time, for example – but if he's not playing an out-and-out hero, his characters are often complex antiheroes that end up difficult to pin down. When he finally made his return to blockbusters in the 2020s, first with Tenet and then The Batman, it was on the "good" side of the ledger.

That's about to change in a major way. In 2026, Pattinson is playing antagonists in two of the biggest movies of the year, and they could very well reshape his star image once again.

The Odyssey & Dune: Part Three Could Redefine Robert Pattinson On-Screen

Robert Pattinson as Antinous in The Odyssey

Robert Pattinson currently has three movies slated for release in 2026. His first, The Drama, is scheduled for April 3 and likely won't figure into this trend. The new film from Dream Scenario director Kristoffer Borgli will pair Pattinson with Zendaya in what's being described as a romantic comedy-drama, surely tapping into the dual strands of leading man and indie weirdo that have defined his career thus far.

His remaining films (which funnily enough also star Zendaya) are Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Three, two of the most-anticipated projects in a pretty exciting movie year. In the former, which has been slow to reveal which characters its star-studded cast will play, Pattinson has been confirmed as Antinous, one of the suitors vying for the hand of Odysseus' wife, Penelope.

Aside from Poseidon, by whose will Odysseus is kept so long at sea, Antinous is the closest thing to a primary villain in Homer's epic. He is the de facto ringleader of Penelope's suitors and the most openly disrespectful of Odysseus' home, going as far as scheming to remove their son, Telemachus, from the picture after he tries to assert himself as master of the house. If Nolan approaches this character faithfully, audiences will spend much of the runtime eager to see him get his just deserts.

Pattinson's exact role in Dune: Part Three has yet to be confirmed, but he did acknowledge he's playing a villain, supporting early reporting that claimed he was cast as Scytale. The novel Dune Messiah is in part the story of a conspiracy to assassinate Paul, who has reigned for twelve years as Emperor since his ascension in Dune's climax. Scytale is the most active participant in this conspiracy, and a recurring perspective character through which the story is told.

How much of Pattinson Dune 3 includes will depend greatly on how Villeneuve intends to approach Scytale. The character is a Face Dancer, a genetically engineered shapeshifter who can perfectly copy anyone's body and personality. It's easy to imagine a film adaptation in which several actors collaborate to play the part, but if Pattinson has indeed been cast in it, we're more likely to see him change and then change back, using him as an anchor form.

In any case, mass audiences will be treated to a different side of Pattinson next year, and it could herald a new phase of his career. It's curious that both of these heel-turns pit the 39-year-old actor against Tom Holland (who plays The Odyssey's Telemachus) and Timothée Chalamet, two of the most prominent leading men of the generation below him. Perhaps as new stars step into the hero roles, Robert Pattinson will become the one tasked with ruining their days.

• Like Follow Followed The Odyssey Adventure Drama Release Date July 17, 2026 Director Christopher Nolan Writers Christopher Nolan Producers Emma Thomas

  Cast

  See All
  • Matt Damon Odysseus
  • Tom Holland Telemachus
  • Zendaya
  • Anne Hathaway
  Main Genre Adventure Genres Adventure, Drama Powered by Expand Collapse
• Like Follow Followed Dune: Part Three Adventure Science Fiction Release Date December 18, 2026 Director Denis Villeneuve Writers Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve Producers Mary Parent Prequel(s) Dune, Dune: Part Two Franchise(s) Dune

  Cast

  See All
  • Timothée Chalamet Paul Atreides
  • Florence Pugh Princess Irulan
  • Anya Taylor-Joy Alia Atreides
  • Zendaya Chani
  Main Genre Sci-Fi Genres Adventure, Science Fiction Powered by Expand Collapse

• Robert Pattinson
• Dune: Part Three
• The Odyssey

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