Christian Bale has put Batman behind him unless director Christopher Nolan returned with a new idea for The Dark Knight…
Christian Bale hung up his cape and cowl as Batman a decade ago with the release of “The Dark Knight Rises” but there’s still at least a small chance he would return to the role again.
Bale ultimately starred in three different “Batman” films all directed by Christopher Nolan with those movies arguably creating one of the greatest comic book based series of all time.
Now as he prepares to make his Marvel Studios debut as Gorr the God Butcher in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” Bale addressed his own interest in playing Batman again under one very specific set of circumstances.
“In my mind, it would be something if Chris Nolan ever said to himself, ‘You know what, I’ve got another story to tell.’ And if he wished to tell that story with me, I’d be in,” Bale told Screen Rant.
Now Nolan has never expressed much interest in returning to do another “Batman” movie despite the massive success of those films including 2008’s “The Dark Knight,” which earned Heath Ledger a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as The Joker.
According to Bale, when he first spoke with Nolan about his plans for the “Batman” series, they wanted to do three films together to tell a complete story and that’s exactly what they accomplished.
“We said, ‘Hey, look. Let’s make three films, if we’re lucky enough to get to do that. And then let’s walk away. Let’s not linger too long.” Bale revealed.
Since “The Dark Knight Rises” was released in 2012, Ben Affleck appeared as Batman in “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” as well as the “Justice League” movie and more recently Robert Pattinson took on the role in “The Batman,” which was just released in 2022.
It seems unlikely that Nolan will want to return for another “Batman” movie, especially given his contentious relationship with Warner Bros. lately but stranger things have happened. For now, Bale will focus on playing a villain in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which opens on July 9.
